The snow fell for a day and a night, and it did not clear until the next day, and this thin amount of snow was quickly trampled clean by the footprints and wheels of the Chang'an people. The hundred officials of the court began to walk along Danfengmen Street in the morning light and went to the Daming Palace to participate in the court.

All the princes rode their horses and were sleepy-eyed, and let the servants in front of them lead them forward. Li Linfu, the right minister, sat in the ink car, draped over his body, with a woolen cover on his ears, an aromatherapy burner in his hand, and swayed along the carriage with his eyes closed.

The car stopped abruptly, and the sound of horses' hooves suddenly fell silent. Li Linfu opened his eyes and yawned, frowned and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

The servant who was driving the car outside replied, "Ah Lang, the palace gate is closed." ”

"How could the palace gate be closed?"

Many officials on horseback stopped in front of the Danfeng Gate and discussed with each other.

Two soldiers on the tower of the city gate beat the big drum, and a red-liped eunuch in a red robe stood in front of the railing and shouted loudly downward: "Spread the sage's oral message, today is the dismissal of the court, and the left and right ministers and the ministers of various departments can go to the Calyx Tower in the south to discuss matters." ”

When the officials heard this, they turned around and turned back.

Li Linfu, the right minister, raised his head and thought carefully before waving his hand and saying to the servant: "Turn around and go to Nannei." ”

"Whoa."

……

At the same time, the palace eunuch came to the backyard of the Anxi Jiedu envoy in Pingkangfang, and announced to the husband Meng Lingcha who was waiting there, asking him to take the Anxi generals to the calyx floor saint today.

After the palace eunuch left, Fu Meng Lingcha sighed happily: "It's so dangerous, fortunately, we have arrived in advance, who would have thought that Your Majesty would meet the envoys of various countries in the Western Regions in the Calyx Tower one day in advance." ”

"Hurry up, don't be stupid, hurry up and get ready."

The so-called Anxi generals are only three in total, and the preparation is quite simple, no need to wear court clothes, just change into a simple regular clothes, and the three of them are led to Xingqing Palace by three personal soldiers.

Before they arrived at the Calyx Tower, they first passed through the palace gate downstairs, many officials were already waiting in the square in front of the building, and when they looked at the past, a purple gas gathered, and they all came to the hall officials of various ministries and departments, only Fumeng Lingcha was qualified to stand with them, Cheng Qianli and his two small military attachés had to follow behind from afar.

The rules of the court are in the order of the court, and the court position of Fu Meng Lingcha is only in the imperial history, don't look at him in the west of the city, covering the sky with one hand, but standing in these purple robes still has a sense of inferiority. This is the ultimate goal of officialdom, and the general's appointment is actually for the sake of entering the picture.

But he's a Qiang person, so he still cut off this thought.

Li Siye stood in the distance, just in time to jump out of them and get a superficial understanding of these people.

Li Linfu needless to say, just looking at his back made me get goosebumps. Li Shizhi, the left minister, is the great-grandson of Li Shimin and the grandson of Li Chengqian, and Li Linfu is the great-grandson of Li Shuliang, the younger brother of Gaozu Li Yuan. Sure enough, in response to the sentence in the future, there is naked hatred between peers.

The highlight of Li Shizhi's life was during his tenure as the envoy of the Youzhou Festival, and he later became the queen of the dynasty, and was often calculated by Li Linfu because of his rough temperament.

The prince is also there? Standing on the right side of the crown prince should be the famous eunuch who wrote Yongliu.

There is also one person in the queue who will be the master craftsman Mao Shun, who enjoys the treatment of the three products, and is good at casting, chiseling, building, designing, and drawing, and is a real engineer and technician, and a master of practical work.

……

"Please ask the envoys of Bahanna, Turgish, and Xiao Bolu, and the left and right ministers and the ministers of the various ministries, the envoys of the Anxi Festival, and the generals to face the saints!"

The hollow door downstairs of the calyx opened one after another, and a wooden staircase appeared upward, and the officials stepped on the stairs to slowly enter. Li Linfu walked forward while swaying, and sighed at the same time: "The construction of the Taishang Xuanyuan Lantern Tower requires a huge amount of money, and the bamboo and wood in the southern mountains of Qinling alone do not know how much to be cut down, and they have to be transported to Chang'an, which is really harmful to the people." ”

Li Shiyi, who was walking beside him, heard it, thought it was an exclamation sentence, and asked with interest: "The right minister also thinks that this cost countless money and should not be built for the big lamp tower that burned overnight?" ”

Li Linfu shook his head and said, "Whether it should be built or not, that's a matter of saints." I only think about my own problems. ”

The officials came to the second floor, stood on the left and right, and bowed to the emperor who was sitting cross-legged on the stage: "The ministers see Your Majesty." ”

The emperor was still in good spirits, but his hair was inevitably stained with frost, but unfortunately there was no hair dye at that time. Gao Lishi stood beside the imperial steps and said in a loud voice: "Bahan's envoy is here?" ”

"The minister is here." A bearded man in a fur robe stepped forward and saluted with his chest folded.

Li Longji sighed with emotion and concluded that "Bahana King Asiranda twice helped the Tang Dynasty to pacify the civil strife in Tuqishi, and his loyalty can be seen and his sincerity is commendable, I want to marry the princess to Asirlandagan, and the two countries will always be together." ”

The envoy was so excited that he knelt on one knee on the ground, crossed his hands and saluted: "The marriage of the saint is the honor of my lord Asilanda, and the lord of Asida is willing to be a vassal of the Tang Dynasty forever, pay tribute every year, come to the court every year, and wish the Tang Dynasty to prosper for a long time, and the country will be transported for thousands of years." ”

The emperor was satisfied with the brushing of the beard, and the complete submission of Bahanna expanded the influence of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, effectively curbing the influence of Tubo and Dashi on this region, which was an invisible victory.

"Please give the name of the country to me again and give my lord the surname of Han."

Li Longji tugged at his beard and thought for a while, nodded and said, "Then I will give the country the name Ning Yuan and the surname Dou." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Followed by the representative of the Tuqi Shi Hei surnamed Du Mozhi, his political proposition of supporting the Tuhuo Immortal Khan had been informed to the emperor by Fumeng Lingcha in advance, Li Longji was mentally prepared, and he readily agreed, to personally give the Tuqi Shi Khan Daxu and Fujie, and also gave Dou Mozhi as the third surname Ye Hu, to dominate the Tuqi Shi tribes.

The envoy of Xiao Bolu still repeated the same old tune, asking the Tang Dynasty to send troops to drive away the Tibetans, so that Xiao Bolu returned to the Tang camp.

This is not because the little Bolu king Su was eager for the Tang Dynasty to rule, and was willing to be a Tang courtier rather than a Tibetan courtier, at least this is not the main factor. All considerations are motivated by political interests, as can be seen from the geographical position. For Xiao Bolu, Tubo is too close, and its ruling center, Luoqicheng, is only a thousand miles away from Xiao Bolu's many cities, but it is thousands of miles away from Chang'an, and even between it and the four towns of Anxi is separated by a green ridge with harsh terrain.

If Xiao Bolu is controlled by Tibet for a long time, he is in danger of being annexed and annihilated, and becomes a part of the plateau territory. But there is no such problem under the control of the Tang Dynasty, because the implementation of the restraint policy makes the ethnic minorities have the right of autonomy, as long as they recognize the suzerainty status of the Tang Dynasty, and perform their duties such as paying tribute and responding to wars, the lords of the country do not have to worry about losing their dominant position, which can be said to be beneficial and harmless.

Although the sage was getting old, he was still clear about the pros and cons of the surrounding situation of the Tang Empire, and he easily received the envoys of these three forces during the conversation.

The left and right ministers and the ministers of various ministries were still sitting below, putting together the contents of today's court and the etiquette of receiving foreign ministers, and after these envoys retreated, Li Longji asked everyone: "What should the court staff discuss today?" ”

Li Linfu stood up from the ground, held the wat board in his hand and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty wants to summon Mao Shun, who will be the master of the prison, today to discuss the construction of the Xuanyuan Lantern Tower on the Shangyuan Festival. ”

Mao Shun, who was standing behind them, frowned, and was about to go up to admonish, but was stopped by Li Shizhi's eyes.

The emperor raised his head wistfully, looked out of the corridor at the end of the calyx building, stretched out his hands in the air and described: "It should be towering above thousands of palaces, so that the entire Chang'an City can be seen, the main lamp is the statue of Taishang Xuanyuan, surrounded by eight desolate beasts such as the phoenix unicorn, bound with colorful curtains, built-in lantern figurines, connected by tricks, once ignited, it rotates endlessly, and shines for several miles." ”

"Zhongqing and Mao Shun, with your vision of me, can it be completed?"

Master Mao finally couldn't help it, and was just about to step forward, but Li Shizhi stretched out his hand to stop it, and personally stood up with both hands holding the wat board and said: "Your Majesty, the bamboo and wood consumed by this headlamp are very huge, and it needs to be cut down and transported back to Chang'an from the southern foot of Zhongnan Mountain. ”