Trains have become a hot topic for people in Chang'an. Just watching them is not enough. Many people want to ride and experience them themselves.
Among them were Changsun Wujia, Chengyang, Gao Yang and others.
Although Xiao Sizi didn't speak, when her big talking eyes looked at Chen Jingke, he knew what she was thinking.
The next day I took them to experience a train ride.
Gao Yang and Cheng Yang didn't care about their image at all and ran around in the carriage excitedly. Xincheng also kept running behind the two sisters.
Little Sizi likes to be quiet, so she sat beside Chen Jingke obediently, but kept staring outside, admiring the scenery outside.
Changsun Wugou leaned back and said, "This chair is too uncomfortable."
Chen Jingke nodded and said: "There is no way around this. It has to be done in order to save space."
"In the future, I plan to design a higher-end carriage, which will be filled with cloth chairs, one for each person, and they can be folded down to lie down."
"There are also sleeper carriages, which will be designed with beds one and a half feet wide, two to three levels... passengers can lie on them and rest."
"It's just that this railway is only more than 20 miles long in total. There is no need to build these. When long-distance trains are available in the future, different carriages will be installed."
Changsun Wugou praised: "Yes, you have thought very carefully... The sage told me yesterday that the labor manual you created will be implemented in all workshops."
Chen Jingke took out the theory of cultivating consumers again and said: "Whether from a personal pursuit or from a national perspective, enriching the people and strengthening the country is the best strategy."
Changsun Wugou said: "What you said makes sense, but there are more than 30,000 people in my workshop, which is a huge expense."
Chen Jingke smiled and said: "But the profits they create are ten times and a hundred times that. When your workshop is mechanized in the future, the efficiency will become higher and the profits will be even more generous."
Changsun Wugou took the opportunity to say: "You said it is easy. All the machines so far are made by you and the Academy. It is difficult for others to even imitate them."
"Who should I ask to build the machine? You are heartless and unwilling to help me."
Xiao Sizi turned around, covered her mouth and laughed.
Chen Jingke said with a bitter face: "Don't worry, we are not idle either."
"In a few days, I'll ask Qingque to help you build a centrifuge for making snow candy. Then you won't have to worry about making snow candy so much."
Changsun Wugou said with satisfaction: "That's pretty much it... It would be even better if you could build me the canning machinery sometime."
Chen Jingke quickly shook his head and said: "I really can't do anything about this. You'd better find Qingque to find a solution. Now he is better at making machines than me."
Indeed, he had never seen a canning factory. He had no idea what this kind of machine looked like and had no way of making it.
Changsun Wugou also noticed this and said nothing.
After chatting for a while, the train had arrived in the suburbs. Chen Jingke said to Li Mingda: "Xiao Sizi, is the train fun?"
Li Mingda nodded and said: "Brother is the most powerful."
Chen Jingke said happily: "Haha, just average, that is, average, awesome, hehe..."
Changsun Wugou rolled his eyes. It would be better if the two of them were not together. When they were together, one would become brainless and the other would become a fool.
The train made a round trip and stopped at Yanpingmen Station again.
On the way back to the palace, they saw a pair of foreigners wearing strange clothes, and there were officials from the Tang Dynasty leading the way.
Chen Jingke smiled and said: "Which country's pilgrimage mission is this?"
Changsun Wugou looked at it and said: "Looking at the clothes, he should be a Tibetan envoy."
Chen Jingke was stunned for a moment, opened the curtain of the carriage a crack and looked outside.
I found that although the costumes are different from the Tubo costumes in previous generations, the general style is the same and they are all full of plateau characteristics.
This envoy was very large, with more than a dozen carts of tributes for the Hajj. The leader was a bearded man about thirty years old.
Could this be the famous Ludong Chan in history?
Chen Jingke looked at him carefully, but couldn't figure out why, so he lowered the curtains.
"Why are the Tubo envoys coming here now? Isn't it because they want to marry the princess?"
The eldest grandson Wugu nodded and said: "Yes, this time the person who came this time is Ludongzan, the second prime minister of Tubo. His purpose is to ask for the marriage of his master, Songtsen Gampo, to the Princess of Tang Dynasty."
Chen Jingke suddenly remembered that Princess Wencheng seemed to have been married during this time in her previous life. Could it be this time?
So he worriedly said: "Your Majesty won't agree to him, right?"
Changsun Wugou smiled and said, "You seem worried?"
Chen Jingke said without hesitation: "Yes, the Tang Dynasty is the master of the world. Whoever marries the princess of the Tang Dynasty is equivalent to gaining the support of the Tang Dynasty."
"They can use this to gather people's support and give orders to many tribes."
"Songtsen Gampo is an ambitious man. If he gets the support of the Tang Dynasty, he will not be far from unifying the plateau."
Changsun Wugou smiled and said: "I am just a little queen, it is useless for you to talk to me about this matter. If you want to advise me, just go to the saint."
Chen Jingke was quite speechless.
Little Queen? It’s a shame you can say this.
However, he also knew that Changsun Wugou did not want to be gossiped about and rarely interfered directly in government affairs.
Although everyone knows that she has a profound influence on the government. After all, with so much money in her hands, others will respect her opinions even if she does not speak.
But at least she is still maintaining a decent harem and not interfering in politics.
All the way back to the palace, Chen Jingke went directly to Li Shimin and asked about the Tubo marriage.
Li Shimin asked the waiter to leave, then took out a map and placed it on the table: "You take a look first before talking."
Chen Jingke leaned over and looked at it, showing surprise.
It can be seen that Tubo's sphere of influence is less than half of the plateau, and the remaining half is the territory of Shangxiong Kingdom.
Moreover, the country was besieged by several countries. Tuyuhun blocked the northeast direction, and a tribe called Bailan blocked its eastern region.
Going east is blocked by a country called Dongnu Country.
It can be said that Tubo was surrounded in three directions: west, north and east. If you wanted to invade the Tang Dynasty, you had to enter Shu or go to the south.
However, the Shu region and the dense forests in the southern Zhongshan Mountains were full of natural dangers, and the Tang Dynasty was eager for them to come and die.
Chen Jingke said in surprise: "Your Majesty, what is this?"
Li Shimin stroked his beard and smiled: "I listened to your reminder last time, so I sent people to manage the plateau land."
"Songtsen Gampo is indeed a great man of his generation, and assisted by wise ministers and good generals, he has the image of unifying the plateau."
"I contacted Xiang Xiong and supported Tuyuhun and Bai Lan. Later, I found the Queen of Dongnu Kingdom to support their restoration..."
Chen Jingke interjected: "What country is Dongnu Country?"
Li Shimin said: "Dongnu Kingdom is part of Supi. At that time, Supi was divided into two countries, East and West."
"The West Lady Kingdom has been completely conquered by Tubo. Although the East Lady Kingdom was also destroyed by Tubo, it has been seeking to restore its kingdom. The year before last, we helped it regain its kingdom and canonized the Queen of the East."
"Then under our leadership, the four kingdoms of Xiangxiong, Tuyuhun, Bailan, and Dongnu established an offensive and defensive alliance and unanimously targeted Tibet."
"Tibet has had a tough time in the past two years. Although it still has an advantage on the surface, in fact its national power has been difficult to maintain."
"Songtsen Gampo has only two ways to go now. One is to give up his ambition and coexist with other countries."
"The other is to get the support of the Tang Dynasty and completely crush the Four Nations Alliance in one go."
"Do you think I will agree to their marriage request?"
Chen Jingke blurted out: "How is it possible? Saint, you are not stupid."
The smile on Li Shimin's face froze, and he said angrily: "If you can't speak, just shut up."
Chen Jingke said sarcastically: "Hehe, you have a clumsy mouth and a clumsy mouth... In just three or four years, you have defeated Tubo. It's really impressive."
Li Shimin was very proud, but he still said: "Thanks to your information, otherwise I wouldn't have known that there was a hungry wolf at my door."
"But now we still can't take it lightly. If Sunzan Gampo chooses to lie dormant, we have no good way to deal with him. And once we reveal our flaws, we will definitely be attacked by him."
"Recently, I have been thinking of ways to give him a fatal blow. Even if I can't eliminate him, I have to make him split again."
Chen Jingke said: "Do you have any idea?"
Li Shimin nodded and said: "It's okay to tell you, but it must be kept secret and cannot be disclosed to anyone."
Chen Jingke said seriously: "Forget it, I'm notorious for not being strict with my mouth."
Li Shimin laughed uncontrollably and said: "There is no need to belittle yourself so much. I still believe in your ability to keep secrets. Otherwise, I wouldn't know anything about your family."
Chen Jingke chuckled and did not answer this question.
Li Shimin did not expect him to answer this question, and instead said: "Sunzan Gampo's heart is not worthy of his ambition."
"The Prime Minister of Tubo, Shang Nang, was put in a prominent position because of his conquest of Subi, but he was also feared by Sunzan Gampo."
"Minister Bangse is very jealous of Shang Nang and has second thoughts about Sunzan Gampo... This is our opportunity."
He did not say specifically what this opportunity was, but Chen Jingke had already guessed something.
It is nothing more than fomenting discord, and then tempting the powerful to betray, thereby dividing Tubo.
As for marriage, it is naturally impossible.
The Tang Dynasty had even dug the pit, so how could it possibly send the princess there to extend Songtsan Gampo's life?
At this time Li Shimin said again: "We tried to promote Chinese civilization on the plateau, and the three countries of Tuyuhun, Bailan and Dongnüguo easily accepted it."
"Zhangxiong and Tubo did not agree with this, and the promotion there had little effect. Even the Taoist missionary there was hindered. If the preachers were not all people of the Tang Dynasty, they would have been killed by the country's Bon teachers."
Chen Jingke frowned slightly and thought for a long time before saying: "The plateau has a unique culture, and it is indeed difficult to accept Chinese civilization."
"Why don't we temporarily shelve the missionary work in the two countries and first resolve their military threats? If possible, send troops to destroy them and then force them to accept Chinese civilization."
Li Shimin said: "I also think so, so as not to force the two countries to form an alliance too much."
Chen Jingke thought for a while and then said: "But we can't do nothing. They are against Taoism and have no interest in Chinese civilization. They will not reject excellent stories, right?"
"Zhang Xiong admires the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty very much. We can take this as an opportunity to spread some beautiful stories of China to the country."
"Such as Journey to the West, A Chinese Ghost Story, etc., as well as stories about some sages. Through these stories, they will have a yearning for the Tang Dynasty and lay the foundation for the future."
Li Shimin couldn't help but nodded and said: "You can give it a try. You can compile some stories that are more popular and give them to me. Then I will have people spread them on the plateau."
…
Let us say that Lu Dongzan and his party came to Datang after many twists and turns and received great treatment.
Datang even sent a young minister to greet him, which was quite a high standard.
You must know that in ordinary small countries, they will randomly send a chief official to greet them.
As for the ministers from Honglu Temple dispatched to greet him, they have not appeared for many years.
As soon as they settled in, Lu Dongzan proposed to meet the Emperor of Tang Dynasty.
The officials of Honglu Temple told him that they would forward the request for him, and they would just wait and see when the emperor would see him.
Lu Dongzan also knew the rules. Although he was very anxious, he had the patience to wait.
He was helpless after waiting for several days without being summoned by the emperor.
However, he has not been idle these days. He has been sending people to inquire about the situation in Chang'an and trying to lobby high-ranking officials.
The lobbying work progressed very slowly, but we did get a lot of mixed true and false information.
Among them, the one that he couldn't believe the most was Tieniu in the west of the city.
It can carry thousands of stones and gallop forward without pushing it with the power of humans or animals.
He didn't believe it at first, thinking that his subordinates were lying to him.
But his subordinates swear by it, and officials from Honglu Temple also confirmed that this was indeed the case.
In shock, he couldn't wait to run outside Yanping Gate to watch.
When he saw this iron lump with his own eyes, carrying hundreds of people on its back and running in black and white smoke, he stood stunned on the spot.
The people in the surrounding Tang Dynasty have long been accustomed to this, and many people who saw a train for the first time looked like this.
Then a strong sense of pride arose in my heart. The power of the Tang Dynasty conquered all the other countries.
Lu Dongzan had no time to take into account the strange looks from the people around him. The conversation he had with Zamp before traveling came to his mind:
Songtsen Gampo: "You are the junior prime minister of Tubo, and you know very well the situation we are facing. Militarily, we have nothing to fear. The Tang people united with Tuyuhun, and Zhangxiong and other countries can do nothing to us."
"But the national strength can no longer support us in continuing the fight. If we cannot end this war as soon as possible to recuperate and recuperate without foreign enemies attacking us, we ourselves will collapse first."
"We must find a way out, and the best way to break the situation is to make peace with the Tang Dynasty."
"On this trip as an envoy to the Tang Dynasty, I must do everything possible to get the Tang Dynasty to agree to this matter."
Lu Dongzan: "I'm afraid the emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty will not agree easily."
Songtsen Gampo: “No matter what the cost.”
Lu Dong praised: "I swear to the death to complete my mission."
At first he was full of confidence and conceived several plans, including which dignitaries to lobby, how to persuade the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, etc.
However, as we went deeper into the interior of Datang, this confidence became less and less. At the moment when we saw the train, all confidence collapsed.
