NCCnovel Chapter 580 What the People Want
Chapter 580 What the People Want
"And then?"
Jiang Liuer leaned forward, his eyes full of curiosity.
He clenched his hands unconsciously, as if this would allow him to "get" the answer out of Xu Yuan's mouth faster.
Tubo had already been destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, but Songtsen Gampo's reputation was well-known. He really couldn't imagine how such a favored man of heaven could be defeated by the Tang Dynasty.
"You can imagine how heroic he must have been, isolated on the plateau, with an army of 200,000 men, marching straight into the Central Plains. And at that age, how full of ambition he must have been!"
Xu Yuan raised his head slightly, and his voice rose unconsciously, with a hint of admiration for Songtsen Gampo.
"It's no wonder he would speak so arrogantly, challenging Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and demanding that the Tang Dynasty marry a princess to him."
"If I can't see the princess, I will start a war immediately and take Chang'an!"
Xu Yuan said what Songtsen Gampo had said in person. His tone was low but it could not hide the domineering tone of his words.
In this silent stone chamber, these words seemed to carry with them the mighty battles of the past, full of might and momentum.
Having said that, Xu Yuan sighed heavily, shook his head slowly, his face full of regret.
"What a pity! Songtsen Gampo is indeed a powerful ruler."
His voice was filled with sadness for the hero's passing. "However, he was born in the wrong era. If he had appeared at any time in the past, he would have had the opportunity to compete with the Central Plains. However, when he attacked the Tang Dynasty, it was already the twelfth year of the Zhenguan period."
"Led by Hou Junji, a young and unknown vanguard general, Niu Jinda, led only 5,000 men in a sudden attack at night, and defeated 200,000 Tibetans."
Xu Yuan said this while waving his hands.
"In the fifteenth year of the Zhenguan reign, Your Majesty ascended the throne, refused the marriage alliance, and attacked Tubo."
"In the first year of Qianwu, Li Jing led a large army to attack Tubo. Qin Ruzhao led the Tubo army, who were destroyed and exterminated."
His voice paused.
"From then on, there were only a few words in history books: 'In the first year of Qianwu, the Tubo nation was destroyed and the race was exterminated.' And this naturally heroic ruler, Songtsen Gampo, didn't even get much of a mention."
"Do you know what I'm going to say?"
Xu Yuan retracted his gaze and stared at Jiang Liuer closely, with deep meaning in his eyes.
Jiang Liu'er nodded, with a hint of disdain on his face, and said carelessly: "You want to tell me that Songtsen Gampo is very powerful?"
"Think it's a pity for Tubo?" He curled his lips.
"Bullshit, what's the pity about destroying Tubo? Your Majesty, it's good that you destroyed Tubo. If you don't destroy Tubo, Tubo, under the guidance of such people, will definitely become a serious threat to our Tang Dynasty in the future."
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, Jiang Liu'er was confused again, his brows twisted into a knot, and his face was full of confusion: "But you just said it was a pity? I thought you felt sorry for the Tibetans?"
Hearing Jiang Liuer's words, Xu Yuan laughed out loud, with a hint of self-mockery in his laughter.
"Pathetic?" He repeated, "I just feel that you will be Songtsen Gampo, I will be Songtsen Gampo, and even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will be Songtsen Gampo."
His expression gradually became serious. "Unfortunately, we are not as good as Songtsen Gampo. I don't feel pity, I just think it's difficult."
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, Jiang Liu'er asked curiously, "What's so difficult?"
"Even Songtsen Gampo, who was such a genius, couldn't help."
A hint of gloom flashed in Xu Yuan's eyes, and he smiled bitterly, "The so-called heroic lord, the natural king, is only the threshold to see Emperor Taizong."
"But Your Majesty, in my opinion, you are three times more powerful than Emperor Taizong."
He sighed slightly, "Do you understand now? Are we worthy of His Majesty treating us as opponents?"
"That's why Your Majesty doesn't care about us. He's giving face to the Crown Prince."
"If Your Majesty wishes, tomorrow Zhang Xianhuai will send our heads to Liangyi Palace."
"We cannot defeat your majesty."
At this point, Xu Yuan's face remained calm.
"Can't win?" Jiang Liu'er frowned, his face full of disbelief. "But if there's no chance at all, if we can't win, why should we help the prince?"
His eyes were full of confusion.
"Because the Crown Prince is the heir to the throne. Although the position of Crown Prince has always been unstable, our Crown Prince is different."
Xu Yuan explained patiently.
"He is His Majesty's only son. His position will not change. What we need to do is to ensure that the Crown Prince can ascend the throne smoothly."
"Hmm?" Jiang Liu'er scratched his head, looking bewildered.
"The Crown Prince is His Majesty's only son. Shouldn't it be natural for him to ascend the throne smoothly? Does he still need our help?"
He always thought that what they were going to do was a earth-shaking undertaking, but in the end, Xu Yuan said something that seemed natural to him.
Jiang Liu'er didn't understand. What else was there to plan? Was His Majesty going to give the throne to someone else?
"A strong king often reflects the prince's weakness."
"Just think about it, when His Majesty had not yet shown his prowess, and with the achievements of the retired emperor, how did others view him, the crown prince?"
"My father is the great ruler of the world, so naturally, as a son, I can't be too bad, otherwise, how would the history books record it?"
"So, being a crown prince is difficult, and being the crown prince of a powerful ruler is even more difficult, because the pressure will become increasingly greater. And since ancient times, the path of the son of a powerful ruler is destined to be turbulent."
"Think about it, how long has it been since the crown prince succeeded to the throne normally?"
"It's been almost hundreds of years now. The last crown prince to succeed to the throne normally was during the Jin Dynasty, right?"
"Tell me, His Royal Highness, can you feel at ease?"
"Your Majesty has given power to the Crown Prince, which naturally weakens your own power. If the Crown Prince has power, how can Your Majesty be at ease?"
“But these problems that have existed since ancient times are not current problems.”
"The problem now is that Your Majesty has given the Crown Prince power, but he has also given his other powers to the people."
“But this creates new problems.”
"Your Majesty has given away too much power. When the time comes, will the Crown Prince still be considered an emperor?"
"Is an emperor without power still an emperor?"
"So, I have made it clear to you today that what we are going to do is not to rebel against His Majesty. We do not have the ability to do so, nor do we intend to rebel."
"We must secretly take back the power that Your Majesty has given away. That way, when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he can become the emperor. Do you understand?"
Jiang Liuer nodded thoughtfully.
But he had new doubts.
"Then let me ask you, Your Majesty has divided up the power, but he no longer has the power. Why is he still Your Majesty?"
Hearing Jiang Liuer's question.
Xu Yuan couldn't help but give him an admiring look.
"Because the military power is in the hands of Your Majesty, that's the first point. Secondly, Your Majesty has the Imperial Guards to oversee the entire country."
"As for the third point, it is also the most important one."
"Because His Majesty is His Majesty, he is Li Chengqian. He doesn't even need any power. He just needs to stand there and everyone will listen to him."
"Because this is what the people want!"