After the reward for meritorious service, Linghu de min, the Minister of rites, came out and said, "after Fu Yun and Fu Zhu, your Majesty''s reputation of Tian Khan has spread far in the western regions. All countries in the western regions have asked your majesty for the name of benevolence and righteousness and have come to vote. This is a memorial to the eternal friendship between Khotan and the Tang Dynasty. Please read it personally!"
"Khotan!"
Li Shimin''s eyes flashed. At the beginning, Khotan was the iron pole of Tuyuhun. Now it is the same at the feet of the Tang Dynasty. How can Li Shimin not be satisfied, let alone other western countries.
"Congratulations, your majesty. Khotan and other countries have come to invest, and the silk road will be unimpeded." Fang Xuanling said happily. After the war, the influence of the Tang Dynasty has extended to the western regions.
Even Li Shimin couldn''t help smiling. Tuyuhun not only kept invading the border, but also threatened the silk road. Now Datang cotton is about to be popularized, Datang silk will surely pile up like a mountain, and the price will fall sharply. If one is not handled well, it may cause a great disaster. Opening up the silk road is only the first step to solve the problem of Datang silk, More importantly, Datang should firmly control this silk road in its own hands.
"Tell the envoys of Khotan and other countries that Datang is a state of etiquette. If you make friends with Datang, we Datang will naturally repay you for your kindness and make friends with you." Li Shimin said Longyan Dayue.
Linghu de nodded and said, "the countries in the western regions will thank your majesty Tian Khan for his kindness."
Merton could not help feeling that when Tuyuhun was strong, these small countries in the western regions were not as enthusiastic as they are today. Sure enough, war was the most direct means to show national strength. If there was no Tuyuhun war, don''t mention the layout of the western regions, I''m afraid the Silk Road would not be able to get through.
"Tell your majesty, in addition to Khotan and other countries, Tubo also sent envoys to Chang''an city to ask your majesty to give him horseshoe, well drilling, silage and other ink skills." Linghu De''s face was strange.
"Ink skill?" Li Shimin couldn''t help but look at the last row suspiciously, and Murton, who was still indignant on his face, said, "why don''t you find the Mohist School and come to me if you want to use ink skill."
Gao Shilian hurriedly stepped out and said, "Your Majesty doesn''t know. On the day when Murong Shun Khan ascended the throne, Wei minister once saw Tubo special envoy Lu Dongzan. This person personally offered a thousand good horses and ten thousand liang of gold to ink sacrifice wine in order to use this ink technique, but he was rejected by the ink marquis in public, saying that it was up to his majesty."
"Thousands of good horses and thousands of gold!"
The officials could not help but smack their tongue. Even if they had such huge wealth, they could not help but feel excited, but the Mohist son refused without hesitation. This alone was enough to impress everyone.
Even Li Shimin''s face softened when he looked at Merton. As long as Merton nodded, the money for the bride price was naturally readily available. However, he resolutely gave up and let Datang take the initiative in diplomacy.
"Your Majesty, this is a great kindness. It takes only a few public ink skills to make friends with Tubo without a penny!" Quan Wanji immediately agreed.
Other civil servants can''t help but agree. Tubo is also a large country in Southwest China, and its strength is not weak. If you can win over Tubo, the benefits to Datang are obvious.
When Merton heard the speech, his face was unprepared. He couldn''t help but list out and said, "what kind of ink technology is the policy of strengthening the country. Tubo is located on the plateau. It''s easy to defend and difficult to attack. If you get these ink skills, you''ll be strong and powerful."
Quan Wanji sneered: "such a powerful strategy is not spread by your ink sacrifice. In this way, you are not suspected of being an enemy."
Morton''s face turned green when he heard the speech, and said proudly, "Lord Quan, don''t talk about it. The boy once said that the Mohist school is the Mohist School of the Tang Dynasty. If it weren''t for my Tang Dynasty Lianke Turks Tuyuhun, he would have been invincible on the grassland. The green reserve feed secret skill boy would not be publicized even if he was rotten in his stomach."
With Merton''s great gift of refusing ludongzan first, Merton''s words convinced all the ministers. Moreover, Datang really benefited the most from the secret skill of QingChu feed.
When Quan Wanji saw many ministers standing on Merton''s side, he couldn''t help but despise him and said, "this secret recipe, ink sacrifice, has been announced to the world. I''m afraid it''s not allowed by your majesty, and Tubo can also be used correctly. In that case, it''s better to be a man of mercy."
Merton sneered: "At the beginning, the boy once set rules in Tuyuhun. I Han people use this secret skill for free, but Tuyuhun wants to use it. A tribe has ten horses, ten cattle and one hundred sheep. Tuyuhun was just replaced by Chaka Salt Lake under his Majesty''s permission. Under the authority of the Tang Dynasty, if Tubo dares to use it without authorization, he will not send thousands of good horses and ten thousand liang of gold, and will not take the initiative to Chang''an The city asked his Majesty''s permission. "
The officials nodded. The reason why Tubo took the initiative to come to Chang''an city was due to the power of the Tang Dynasty to win over Tuyuhun. If Tubo used these ink skills without authorization, I''m afraid it would be seized by the Tang Dynasty.
Before that, Tubo naturally didn''t care about the attitude of Datang, but now Datang destroys the rotten and withers the rotten, generally destroys Tuyuhun, and borders on Tubo, which has to frighten Tubo. He doesn''t want to give Datang any excuse and handle. This can''t be solved with money, so he obediently came to Chang''an City and asked Li Shimin for a reward.
Quan Wanji retorted, "I''m afraid the Tang Dynasty is asking for more benefits. I''m afraid it''s not as important as silage to Tubo."
Even Li Shimin refuted this point, and his face was heavy.
Merton shook his head and said, "of course, these secret skills can enhance the strength of Tubo, but they can also benefit Qinghai grassland and northern grassland more. In contrast, Datang benefits more. Of course, Tubo can not be wantonly powerful. Tubo must be restricted."
Quan Wanji sneered: "there is a clever plan to limit Tubo. We are all ears."
Other ministers couldn''t help shaking their heads and chuckling. In their view, Merton, even though he had some tricks, still depended on their old ministers in the game between countries.
Merton said proudly, "I can''t help such a big Tubo alone. However, when I went on an expedition to Tuyuhun, I found that if a country wants to be strong, food is the top priority, and it is even more precious to all parts of the grassland."
Many officials nodded one after another. Food is the foundation of the country, which is the iron law of all dynasties.
"Although Tubo is mainly engaged in animal husbandry, it can produce a lot of sorghum every year, which is the strong foundation of Tubo. If the Tang Dynasty consumes most of the sorghum produced by Tubo, how can a grassland tribe be the opponent of the Tang Dynasty?" Merton continued.
"Consume the sorghum of Tubo!" Li Shimin couldn''t help but feel excited. If so, Tubo would not be worried.
"The plan comes out from an?" Linghu de Yu hurriedly asked.
"Wine!" Merton said solemnly.
"Making wine?" all the officials of the Manchu Dynasty could not help looking at Merton in amazement. Even Li Shimin couldn''t help being disappointed. He thought Merton had any clever plan?
Quan Wanji and other officials couldn''t help looking at Merton sarcastically, as if they were looking at a clown.
Merton didn''t seem to see the mocking eyes of the ministers, and said angrily: "as soon as the boy returned from Tuyuhun, he heard the Mojia village complain to the boy. Now, the Mojia village not only leaked its secret brewing skills, but also was falsely accused of using poisonous grain to make wine to solve thousands of worries. The sales volume fell sharply and continued to lose money."
After Merton finished, many ministers felt guilty. They could not escape the leakage of brewing secret skills. Their winery made a lot of money by taking advantage of this opportunity.
"At this point, I''m ready to find the best brewing raw material for solving Qianchou - Tubo sorghum. Sorghum is the best raw material for brewing, and Tubo sorghum is located on the plateau with sufficient sunshine. It is the best of the best. It is the best raw material for brewing Qianchou. In this way, it can not only consume Tubo''s food greatly, but also break the people''s misunderstanding of solving Qianchou, and it won''t be harmful Consuming more food of the Tang Dynasty and killing three birds with one stone will unconsciously weaken the strength of Tubo and will not arouse Tubo''s vigilance, "Merton explained.
Although transporting sorghum from Tubo costs a lot and increases the cost several times, compared with the profits of relieving Qianchou''s terror, these losses are almost negligible.
The ministers who owned the winery were depressed. They thought Xie Qianchou had no chance to turn over, but they didn''t think that the sorghum of Tubo would bring Xie Qianchou back to life.
"How much sorghum can you consume with your output to solve thousands of worries?" Quan Wanji said.
Merton immediately looked at Quan Wanji like a fool and said: "Lord Quan knows that the secret brewing skills have been leaked. I don''t know how many restaurants in the whole Tang Dynasty know the secret brewing skills. There are many Mojia village taking the lead in using Tubo sorghum. I''m afraid there are many imitators. Besides, we won''t secretly spread the secret brewing skills to Tubo. I believe that the new formula can solve thousands of worries, and the good wine brewed by Tubo sorghum will be very popular?"
Li Shimin''s eyes suddenly brightened. In this way, this plan has great potential. Once Tubo consumes a lot of sorghum, even if it gets the method of silage, the national strength will not rise but fall.
Dai Zhou frowned and said, "in this way, wouldn''t a lot of money be earned by Tubo!"
Merton said indifferently, "when I buy Tibetan sorghum, I can take advantage of the situation to sell my luxury accessories of the Tang Dynasty to Tibet, exquisite porcelain, smooth silk,... I''m afraid the money will come back soon."
"Mojia Zi, it''s still that Mojia Zi!" all the officials of the Manchu Dynasty immediately stared at Merton in amazement. They didn''t expect that a huge Tubo would be weakened by Merton so quietly.
Li Shimin immediately said without hesitation: "Linghu Shangshu, you tell the Tubo emissary that I pity the Tubo people how difficult their livelihood is, and allow them to use the secret skills. The only condition is that the ink sacrifice wine requires Tubo to supply a large amount of Sorghum in order to make wine, so as to solve the problem of thousands of worries."
In this way, the excuse for Datang''s demand for Tibetan sorghum is perfect.
"Yes!" Linghu said solemnly.
Merton hurriedly said, "it would be better if he could supply sorghum for free, and the boy could make up for some losses."
At this moment, Merton thought of the heartache of thousands of good horses and thousands of gold. How can he not take the opportunity to beg for benefits.
Li Shimin couldn''t help looking at Merton with a headache. The boy turned his eyes.
"Exchange sorghum for ink, so that Tubo won''t be suspicious." Merton muttered.
Li Shimin said angrily, "let''s fix ten thousand loads of sorghum."
Ten thousand loads of sorghum is naturally not as valuable as the great gifts provided by Tubo before, but no matter how much, it can not show the demeanor of the etiquette state of the Tang Dynasty.
"Thank you, your majesty!" Merton suddenly looked like a successful villain, changing his previous decadence.
The ministers could not help staring at this pair of Weng''s son-in-law and joining hands to pit Tubo. It was not soft at all.
"No one can reveal what happened today, or we will be severely punished." Li Shimin suddenly shouted.
"I understand!" all the ministers shouted in unison.