It can be said that Wei Zheng had no selfish motives at all and only thought about the Tang Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, I think we should meet the envoys from the Western Turks first to see what they have to say." Changsun Wuji said.
"Mr. Zhao Guogong, what do you mean by this? No matter what benefits the Western Turks promised, it is just a delaying tactic. In this case, what are they going to do?" Cheng Yaojin said dissatisfied.
"That's right, I feel that I shouldn't see them, so I can just send them away." Yuchi Gong agreed.
Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong took the lead, and other generals also stood up to oppose Changsun Wuji's words.
They are all waiting to go to the battlefield and perform meritorious service. Although Changsun Wuji only said to meet him, who knows what attractive conditions the Western Turks will offer. What if Li Shimin is moved and agrees?
Li Shimin had roughly understood what Changsun Wuji meant, but he did not stop him.
If all the civil and military officials were harmonious, he would not be able to sleep.
As for the fight between civil and military forces, as long as it is not too excessive, he generally will not stop it.
It can be said that the opposition between civil servants and military generals is partly because the civil servants and the military are indifferent to each other, and the other reason is because of the emperor.
Sometimes the emperor is like a referee, and he is the kind of referee who can decide the outcome with one word.
No matter how many parties the ministers below are divided into, as long as they are not one party, they must perform well and strive to win the support of the referee.
On the contrary, if they all have one mind, wouldn't the referee be useless?
Changsun Wuji faced everyone's opposition and doubts, without any expression, and said: "The Western Turks sent envoys just to delay the Tang Dynasty from sending troops so that Xue Yantuo could be destroyed as soon as possible. If the Tang Dynasty did not give the Western Turks a chance, how could the Western Turks dare?
A decisive battle with Xue Yantuo?"
"What Duke Zhao Guo said is right, I also think that we should meet the envoy of the Western Turks." Fang Xuanling said.
Whatever Changsun Wuji could think of, he could naturally think of it too.
Although Changsun Wuji ranked first in the subsequent ranking of Lingyan Pavilion's heroes, it does not mean that he is more resourceful than Fang Xuanling.
"In that case, let's meet." Li Shimin said.
Now that he had made a decision, Li Shimin didn't delay much. After letting these confidants go, he summoned Qi Laobater.
Qi Laobaat'er originally thought that Li Shimin would not see him so soon, and was planning to arrange for someone to publicize the purpose and conditions of the Western Turks' mission to arouse public opinion and force Li Shimin to see him. Unexpectedly, Li Shimin summoned him so quickly and hurriedly dealt with it.
After a while, he followed the palace servants to the palace.
"The foreign minister has met His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty." Qi Laobaat'er performed a prairie etiquette.
Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "I wonder what the Western Turks are going to do when they send an envoy at this time?"
"Back to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the Great Khan sent me to the Tang Dynasty this time because he wanted to become a vassal of the Tang Dynasty and pay tribute. The Western Turks are willing to become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty." Qilaobaat'er said.
"Oh, this is a good thing. I'm sure. Nishu and I are old acquaintances. I wonder if he can come to Chang'an to reminisce with me." Li Shimin looked very happy.
"Forehead."
Qi Laobaat'er was a little dumbfounded. If I say this, shouldn't you ask about the conditions first? Just agree to it directly?
Moreover, Li Shimin wanted Ni Shu to come to Chang'an. How could this be possible?
Not to mention that the Western Turks had no intention of becoming a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Even if they were, Nishu would not be able to come to Chang'an in person.
"Your Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, our Turks have been divided for a long time. Now the Great Khan is busy unifying the Turks and has no time to come to the Tang Dynasty." Qilaobaat'er said quickly. Gu Yan
"That's it." Li Shimin said with some disappointment: "As for the time and amount of tribute that the Western Turks will pay after becoming a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, I will arrange for someone from the Ministry of Rites to discuss it with you. You can go back first."
"etc."
Qilaobaat'er said quickly: "Your Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, since the Western Turks are already a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, can the Tang Dynasty not interfere in the internal affairs of our grassland?"
Li Shimin sneered in his heart. He naturally knew what the Western Turks had planned.
Li Shimin didn't care about the so-called vassal state.
The purpose of supporting Xue Yantuo at the beginning was to prevent the Western Turks from dominating the grassland, and now he would not give the Western Turks a chance.
"But Xue Yantuo is also a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. I have promised Xue Yantuo to send troops to help them. If I don't send troops, wouldn't I be breaking my promise?" Li Shimin said with an embarrassed look.
"But our Western Turks are now also a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty." Ashina Sheer said.
Li Shimin said with a tangled look: "Yes, the Western Turks are also a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, I can't send troops to attack my own vassal state. But if I don't send troops, I will break my trust with Xue Yantuo, which will be very difficult for me to handle."
"How about this? Why don't you just stop fighting and make peace? If you are afraid that Xue Yantuo will not agree, I will send someone to talk to them."
Qilao Baat'er almost lost his breath and vomited blood. Why did Xue Yantuo not agree? Now Xue Yantuo was afraid that he wanted them to retreat.
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, I, the Western Turks, are very sincere in professing vassalage to the Tang Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty does not seem to have the slightest sincerity." Qilaobaat'er said in a somewhat stiff tone.
Li Shimin said coldly: "What, are you questioning me?"
A trace of panic flashed across Qiraobaat'er's face and he said: "Your Majesty, please don't misunderstand me. It's just that we, the Western Turks, sincerely want to become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty did not even agree to this request, and the Great Khan also
I can’t convince the various tribes below.”
Although it is said that the two countries did not kill the envoys during the war, Qi Laobaater had spent several times in the Tang Dynasty and had heard about the history of the Han people.
There were many cases of killing envoys in history. If Li Shimin was offended and killed by him, wouldn't his death be in vain?
Li Shimin's face softened a bit and said: "I am very happy that Western Turks can become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, but Xue Yantuo is also a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, and I also promised Xue Yantuo to send troops to assist them. So I have to think carefully about what you said.
.”
"Yes, yes, then the foreign minister will wait for now, but I don't know if the emperor will send troops before he makes a decision?"
Qi Laobat'er's purpose was to delay the Tang Dynasty's dispatch of troops. As long as Li Shimin did not send troops, he wished Li Shimin would give it more consideration.
"Don't worry, I won't send troops now." Li Shimin said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor." Qilaobaat'er said with a happy face.
Of course, he would not believe Li Shimin's words so easily. The Western Turks still had some secrets in the Tang Dynasty, as long as the military camps monitoring Chang'an showed no signs of mobilizing troops.
After Ashina Sheer returned to Honglu Temple, he immediately found a few confidants, explained to them, and asked them to hide their traces and report the news in batches.
He did not write a letter, otherwise if these people were caught, his purpose would be exposed.
These people are all dead warriors. If anything goes wrong, they will kill themselves immediately and will not leak the secret.
He divided it into several batches to ensure that even if someone was discovered, the letter could still be sent back.