Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 562 Diplomatic Relations
The tea in the black cup was bluish-white in color. It was the tea brewed by Lu Yu. Xue Bai picked it up and took a sip.

Li Jilan stole a glance, wanting to hear what Xue Bai thought of the tea, after all, it was she who scooped up the Zhongling water. But Xue Bai said nothing after putting down the teacup, and she couldn't help but worry that he was unhappy.

After a while, a box of tea was brought out.

Xue Bai has tinkered with many novel things so far, and since he brought out the tea today, everyone couldn't help but look forward to it, thinking that it would be a tea cake with a unique shape.

However, when the box was opened, there was only loose dark brown tea leaves inside, which looked really unappetizing.

"Let's take a look."

Xue Bai first looked at Lu Yu and motioned him to come forward.

Although Xue Bai didn't say anything just now, he still recognized Lu Yu's tea art. Nowadays, the folk method of making tea is the same as making Hu La Tang, which is to boil tea leaves with onions, ginger, dates, orange peels, dogwood, mint and other things. Although the rich and powerful also make tea, the taste is mostly bitter. Lu Yu's level is indeed much higher than that of ordinary people, and he already has the fragrance of tea.

"Your Highness."

"Your tea is different from others. What's the difference?"

"Your Highness, my tea is roasted." Lu Yu replied, "Roast it slowly over low heat, and turn it over frequently to ensure even heat and coolness. When the tea cakes are roasted into toad-back shapes, wrap them while they are still hot to prevent the aroma from dissipating."

"Where are the teas I brought?"

Lu Yu picked up the tea leaves and smelled them, saying, "It's not roasted."

He looked thoughtful, and after thinking for a long time, he finally said, "Your Highness, is this tea... roasted?"

"good."

Xue Bai had never been used to the tea from the Tang Dynasty. He tried to brew it several times, but it seemed that drinking a cup of tea was not as simple as brewing it with boiling water.

He had not been in the mood to study these things before, but now that he had some free time, he remembered that the tea needed to be roasted before it could taste good, so he picked good tea leaves and tried several times. He gradually figured out the specific steps of roasting, including the temperature of the pot, how many steps were required, and so on.

Lu Yu touched the tea leaves and said to himself, "It's not dry enough. I'm afraid it will turn into powder."

“This is soaked.”

Xue Bai then stood up and made the pot of tea himself.

Lu Yu felt his aura and thought he was very good at making tea, so he stared at him with wide eyes. He even untied the belt he used to wrap his hands and prepared to hand it to him, worried that Xue Bai's sleeves would knock over the various tea utensils.

Xue Bai picked up the wooden box with one hand, walked to the table, calmly grabbed a handful of tea leaves and poured them into the pot.

It is called a pot, but it is actually called a "Shuyu", one of Lu Yu's twenty-four tea utensils, used to hold hot water.

Lu Yu was surprised, and even more puzzled was Xue Bai's action of grabbing the tea with his hands. He thought, "Is it to increase the saltiness of the tea? Then why add salt? If the tea leaves are placed in the bowl, where will the hot water be placed later?"

Countless questions flashed through his mind, and Lu Yu observed Xue Bai's movements more and more attentively to see which tea set he would use next.

Xue Bai looked around, picked up a tea towel from the complicated tea set, wrapped it around the handle of the boiling pot, and poured the boiling water into the cooking pot.

"All right."

"what?"

Xue Bai turned around and said, "The tea is ready."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, but Li Chenghong quickly reacted and praised: "Your Highness makes tea in a smooth and flowing manner, which is pleasing to the eye. Wonderful, wonderful!"

Li Qiwu glanced at Li Chenghong with a bit of resentment, thinking that it was no wonder that he got the job since he was so good at flattery.

Lu Yu felt that Xue Bai was trampling on the tea ceremony. He walked forward disappointedly and looked at the tea in the cooked bowl.

The tea leaves that had been fried into curls have now stretched out and sunk to the bottom. The tea soup is green, which is really ugly.

"Serve it to everyone to try." Xue Bai said.

Lu Yu was about to refuse, but suddenly he sniffed and smelled the fragrance of tea.

His eyes focused, he used a small ladle to scoop tea into the teacup, held it in his hand, closed his eyes and smelled it, he let out a long breath, threw away all the distracting thoughts in his mind, and took a sip calmly.

"how?"

Lu Yu opened his eyes and did not rush to answer. Instead, he felt the sweetness of the tea. Gradually, a different light appeared in his eyes. He said in surprise, "It's so refreshing and fragrant!"

As expected, Xue Bai said, "That's not bad."

After the tea was distributed to everyone for tasting, everyone couldn't help but marvel at how such a simple brewing method could produce such a good taste.

Lu Yu and Jiaoran, these two extremely outstanding young people were easily overshadowed by Xue Bai, and this was in the field they were best at.

This seemed to add a lot of troubles to Li Jilan.

She admired him for being able to do everything and for being able to astound the world with his every move, but she couldn't be sure whether he was doing this today because he was jealous of her, so she kept guessing in her heart.

Over there, Xue Bai had already called over Li Chenghong and asked, "How is this tea?"

"Then, when the Tibetan envoys arrive, we will entertain them with this."

"Here."

After saying that, Xue Bai looked at Li Xian, and they smiled at each other and nodded.

In fact, Xue Bai's great ambition is hidden in this small tea leaf.

~~
A few days later, in the southwest corner of the imperial city, at the Honglu Guesthouse.

Lu Yu sat behind the desk, brewing tea with his graceful movements and handed it to the Tubo envoy.

The Tubo envoy was named Basainang. He was tall and strong, with a dark complexion and a full beard.

His movements were quite elegant and he could speak Chinese. He took the teacup from Lu Yu with both hands, took a sip, and let out a comfortable sigh.

"Tea is really a good thing. We love to eat meat all year round, but we get sick of it if we eat too much. This tea is very good at relieving that greasy feeling."

Li Chenghong, the envoy of the Tang court, was a prince. Upon hearing this, he just smiled faintly and nodded to show his appreciation, appearing very reserved.

Lu Yu poured another cup for Basainang and said, "If the envoy likes it, you can bring more back this time."

"Okay." Basainang pointed to the table and said with a smile, "It's just that these utensils are too complicated. I'm afraid I won't be able to brew such good tea when I return to Tubo."

"I have some brewed tea here, the envoy can also try it."

As Lu Yu spoke, he turned around, took out a box and started making tea.

Although he looked ugly, his movements were much more graceful than Xue Bai's. The elegance in his gestures always made people mistake him for a handsome man.

Soon, the tea was ready, and a bowl was given to all the Tibetan soldiers and servants who came with the envoy to taste.

He did this because Xue Bai had different positioning for the two types of tea. The process of brewing tea was complicated and looked high-end, mainly targeting the nobility; the process of making tea was simple and mainly targeted at ordinary people.

Although the Tibetans have long been drinking tea to relieve greasiness, it is impossible for everyone to drink brewed tea. However, if they like the taste of brewed tea and use it as a daily drink, the volume of tea trade will naturally increase greatly.

Sure enough, after drinking this bowl of tea, no one felt that the taste was bitter, but rather it was very refreshing and relieved.

Basainang also liked this fragrant tea and asked to buy more to bring back to Tubo this time.

As for launching large-scale tea trade between the two countries, that is something to be discussed after the peace talks.

Li Chenghong brought Lu Yu with him to entertain the Tubo envoys for this purpose. They were following the orders of the crown prince to take this opportunity to increase Tubo's demand for tea.

After drinking tea, Basainang wanted to bring up the topic of marrying a Tang princess, but Li Chenghong avoided the topic and soon someone else spoke behind him, Jiaoran.

Jiaoran was beautiful and had excellent conversation skills. Soon, he and Basenang had a very pleasant conversation and led the topic to Buddhism.

The culture and education in Tibet were not prosperous, and it could be said that they were extremely poor. In Tibet, there were very few people who could read, let alone knowledge of medicine, astronomy, geography, arithmetic, etc.

Ignorance leads to reverence, reverence for the heavens, the earth, and the gods. Although Basai Nang was a Tibetan noble, he also had a deep reverence for Buddhism. On the other hand, he also knew that if Tibet wanted to prosper in culture and education, it could not rely on scholars. Only monks who did good deeds and accumulated virtue could spread culture and education, heal the sick, translate books, and help the people in Tibet.

On the other hand, for a long time, the power of the Bonpo wizards expanded, which gradually weakened the power of the king. They interfered in everything from weddings and funerals, farming and grazing, to wars and alliances, the king's succession to the throne, burials and tomb building. Therefore, starting from Songtsen Gampo, Buddhism has been supported by the Tubo royal family.

Now, the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen was already sixteen years old, but the government was controlled by powerful officials who believed in Bonpo religion. It was Trisong Detsen's natural position to introduce Buddhism to fight against the powerful officials.

Basai Nang was Trisong Detsen's confidant. One of the purposes of his diplomatic mission to the Tang Dynasty was to gain the support of the Tang Dynasty and increase Trisong Detsen's prestige through marriage.

Naturally, he was not opposed to discussing Buddhism with Jiaoran. On the contrary, the more they talked, the deeper their understanding became. He felt that many of his doubts about the universe, the world, and life were suddenly enlightened.

The two also agreed to go to Changxing Temple together tomorrow to pay a visit to Master Huizheng, the most profound Zen master in the Tang Dynasty.

~~
Zen Master Huizheng is seventy-six years old this year.

He studied Buddhism since he was young, was well versed in the sutras and Vinaya, became one of Huineng's most accomplished disciples, and received the seal of mind. After practicing for more than 40 years, his reputation grew.

It is said that a thief broke into the temple and put a knife to Huizheng's neck to threaten him, but Huizheng sat still and chanted scriptures. Finally, the thief burst into tears and knelt on the ground to confess his life's sins.

When Li Longji was in power, he had also heard of his name and welcomed him to Chang'an.

On that day, there were two people sitting opposite the old monk. One was a layman, dressed simply, with a clear expression, and was meditating with his eyes closed. It was Wang Wei.

The other one was a young man who could not sit still. He would cross his legs and then stretch them out. It was Du Wulang.

"Princess Yuzhen has also asked Mr. Mojie, does His Highness have any bad intentions? He just checked the real estate and population of temples all over the world, but someone spread rumors that he wanted to destroy Buddhism. He is really judging others by his own standards."

Although Du Wulang said this, he also looked up at the temple, admiring it, and said, "But I have to say that your temple has a lot of fields, tenants, and slaves. Oh, you can't do the money lending business anymore."

Wisdom is neither happy nor sad, saying: "If you encounter many disasters, all kinds of troubles, bad things, disturbances, worries, and unsatisfactory times, you should accept them with a sense of contentment, and not let doubts and regrets stop you from practicing good deeds."

"Master, I don't understand what you are saying to me." Du Wulang said, "Your Highness ordered me here because he hopes that you can spread Buddhism to the Tibetan envoys." Combined with what he said before, this probably means that Huizheng wants to make amends for his mistakes.

Huizheng naturally could not refuse. Since his temple was being targeted, even if he did not consider himself, he had to consider his disciples.

Seeing that he understood, Du Wulang nodded and continued to explain incessantly.

"The Tibetans believe in Buddhism differently from us. We have Taoism and Confucianism. As the saying goes, a scholar does not talk about strange things. The stories you told before were all about converting robbers. This is not enough. The Tibetans need a more powerful Buddha..."

"Amitabha, I never tell lies."

Du Wulang said: "I don't care, you have to convince the Tibetan envoy."

When Huizheng discussed Buddhism with Wang Wei, his words were always concise, to the point and profound. Their questions and answers were like two green mountains facing each other. The wise see clearly, and the blind are blind themselves.

But after hearing Du Wulang's explanation that day, he couldn't help but sigh.

He actually understood the purpose of the current crown prince, but he was a Zen Buddhist, and what the Tibetans needed more and believed in more was actually Tantric Buddhism.

The two are actually quite different.

"Just give it a try." Huizheng murmured.

The next day.

Jiaoran brought Basainang slowly into the hall, and on the way, he whispered about the deeds of Zen Master Huizheng.

"On his way to the capital, the Zen master encountered a fire dragon that spewed poisonous flames. He calmly chanted sutras, and the dragon shrank into a lizard and converted to Buddhism."

"so smart?!"

Bassanang was greatly surprised.

The difference between preaching in the Tang Dynasty and preaching in Tubo was that one had to have magic and supernatural powers that were superior to those of the Bonpo wizards, and then the profound Buddhist teachings.

"I arrived in Datang and my whole body was itchy. Can I ask the Zen master to see what the cause is?"

"please."

Basainang finally entered the hall and saw the dignified Huizheng. Before he could say anything, Huizheng suddenly opened his eyes, like the angry eyes of a diamond.

"What an evil creature, how dare you possess someone?!"

After scolding, Huizheng stood up, recited scriptures calmly, walked around Basainang a few times, then picked up a willow branch, dipped it in water from a small porcelain bottle, and sprinkled it on Basainang.

After that, he continued to chant the sutra for a long time before Hui Zheng said, "The evil ghost has converted."

He sat back on the mat, looking mysterious.

Basainang suddenly felt that the itch on his body seemed to be less severe. He then realized that he had been possessed by an evil spirit on the way to the mission, but was subdued by Master Huizheng. He could not help but admire him greatly and wanted to become Huizheng's disciple on the spot.

Huizheng opened his eyes, his eyes full of compassion.

He knew that the next step would be a difficult one. He would no longer discuss the mysteries of heaven and earth with people like Wang Wei who were well versed in Buddhism. Instead, he would have to use various magic spells to eliminate people's fear of the unknown and establish their faith.

This time, he will compete on behalf of Zen Buddhism with more sects for influence on Tubo.

~~
Wubenfang, Yan’s residence.

This is the new house Yan Zhenqing moved into after he was appointed prime minister. It does not occupy a large area, but is quite close to the imperial city and the Daming Palace.

In the evening, there was a knock on the door. The doorman opened the door and saw a foreign woman in a long robe standing there.

"Is Master Yan here? An old friend wants to see you."

The woman had a strong Tibetan accent, but her Chinese was fairly standard.

Soon, she was invited into the front yard, and after waiting for a while, Yan Zhenqing arrived.

"Master Yan."

"Nalan Zhen?" Yan Zhenqing was a little surprised and asked, "Why are you here?"

Na Lanzhen then stood up, bowed, and said, "I came to the alliance sincerely."

Yan Zhenqing stroked his beard and asked, "Isn't that envoy here to attend the meeting?"

"Basainang's identity makes him unqualified to discuss truly important decisions with the Tang Dynasty." Nalan Zhen said, "But I can."

"Sit down and talk."

In comparison, Nalan Zhen was much more anxious than Yan Zhenqing.

She had dealt with Xue Bai before, and even became Xue Bai's disciple after being captured. Therefore, she knew what a terrible person her master was. With such a person in charge of the Tang Dynasty, his rise was inevitable and rapid.

On the other hand, although Tubo now seems to be stronger than the Tang Dynasty, her brother is still young and is controlled by powerful officials. If the war against the Tang Dynasty is won, the credit will not go to the royal family, but the royal family will have to bear all the consequences of the retaliation from the Tang Dynasty in the future; if the war is lost, the prestige of the royal family will still be affected, which is not cost-effective no matter how you look at it.

"Dazarugong didn't want to negotiate peace. He just wanted to paralyze the Tang Dynasty and get rid of the Tang generals with a divisive strategy. But the Zamp really wanted to negotiate peace, so he sent Basainang. Daazarugong didn't take Basainang seriously and didn't think he could facilitate peace between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty. So, I came here. I can fully represent the Zamp to negotiate terms with the Tang Dynasty."

Yan Zhenqing did not react much to such important news, but asked: "How can I believe your sincerity?"

"We want to kill the chief minister, Ma Xiang."

Na Lanzhen did not hesitate and directly put forward their plan.

"After killing Ma Xiang, the Zamp can rule the country himself, but Dazha Lugong is leading troops outside, and we are afraid that he will rebel, so we need the support of the Tang Dynasty. In exchange, we can return the cities we have occupied in the past two years. In addition, the Zamp needs to marry a Tang princess, and the two countries will form an alliance and no longer fight."

Yan Zhenqing shook his head and said, "Marriage is not possible. The court will not agree to it."

Na Lanzhen said: "If the Tang Dynasty is unwilling to marry the Zamp, the king will marry the daughter of Cai Bangshi as his princess. Cai Bangshi is very powerful, and by then, the Tubo royal family will not have any power close to the Tang Dynasty."

Yan Zhenqing couldn't hide her little thoughts.

Obviously, the one who was eager to marry the Tang princess was not the Tubo King Trisong Detsen, but Nalan Zhen. She did not want the power of Tubo's foreign relatives to grow stronger, and hoped to bring in another force to muddy the waters, so that she, the eldest princess, could take power through the King's personal rule.

Yan Zhenqing obviously knew how to negotiate better than Na Lanzhen. He was calm and composed and was not in a hurry to give an answer.

He observed her and discovered that her water bag was actually filled with tea. He could tell because there were some broken tea leaves when she drank it, and she chewed them a little.

"how?"

After a while, Na Lanzhen asked.

Yan Zhenqing asked: "Does the Tibetan king have the power to order a ceasefire and order Dazha Lugong to return the occupied cities?"

"It was Dazalugong who proposed the alliance. He didn't expect that we could actually reach an alliance. When the Zamp gave the order, he was caught off guard and had no choice but to agree."

The two talked for a while, and Yan Zhenqing said that he could not make the decision on the matter and needed to report to the court before discussing it again.

After seeing Na Lanzhen off, he went to the palace overnight to ask for a meeting.

~~
In Shaoyang Courtyard, Xue Bai heard that Yan Zhenqing wanted to see him, and he knew that it was a big deal, so he immediately ordered people to open the palace gate.

It was very troublesome to open the palace gate, and by the time Yan Zhenqing entered the palace, it was already quite late at night.

After telling the story of Nalan Zhen's mixing in the delegation and her proposal, Yan Zhenqing then put forward his own views.

“I think this proposal is feasible.”

Xue Bai shook his head and said, "No."

He paced and walked to the map, saying, "Tibet is the most powerful enemy around the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty may be able to maintain good relations with other tribes and small states, but conflicts with them are inevitable. The Tibetans are fickle, sometimes fighting and sometimes making peace, and have no credibility. If we marry them to a princess, we will lose the prestige of the court and easily fall into a passive position."

Yan Zhenqing understood immediately, saying that the Tibetans liked to feign peace, often negotiating today and invading tomorrow. And this time, Xue Bai also wanted to feign peace.

"Although Trisong Detsen is young, his series of methods cannot be underestimated. What good will it do for us to help him get rid of the powerful ministers? We should do the opposite, paralyze him with peace talks, alienate him from Zadarugun, and let Tubo fight among themselves."

This is a case of giving someone a taste of their own medicine. Zadarugun wanted to negotiate peace, and what he wanted was to paralyze the Tang Dynasty and cause internal strife within it.

"Although we cannot have a marriage alliance, we can have peace talks. To show our sincerity, we can trade with Tubo, including silk, tea, and monks. The Tubo people can exchange them for cattle, sheep, and horses..."

The idea is simple.

The Tang Dynasty could use trade as a preliminary expression of its sincerity, and could also send a large number of monks to help Trisong Detsen promote Buddhism and increase the power of Buddhist ministers. It could even promise to contain Dazalugong at the border and give Trisong Detsen the confidence to get rid of the regent.

However, once Trisong Detsen took action, the Tang Dynasty would turn to instigate and even support Dazhalugun to rise up in rebellion and incite civil strife in Tubo.

As for how to infiltrate Tubo, Xue Bai has specially prepared two key things, one is tea, and the other is Buddhism.

The Tang Dynasty's envoys and spies will follow the merchants, bring tea that can relieve greasiness and monks of extraordinary status, and enter Tubo, Hexi, and the Western Regions to contact immigrants and wait for the opportunity of civil unrest in Tubo to recover lost territory.

He would not pin his hopes on Dazalugong taking the initiative to return the lost territory.

Even if the city can be returned, the people, cattle, sheep and property will not be returned.

In the diplomatic relations between the two countries, interests come first. As for the friendship with Nalan Zhen, it is of course nothing. What's the harm in deceiving her once?
~~
A few days later, Basainang, who had taken the Buddhist name "Xilian", led the delegation on the road back to Tubo.

Unfortunately, he failed to get a Tang princess for the Zamp to marry, so the alliance could not be formally confirmed. However, he still received a statement from the Tang Dynasty that it was willing to live in peace. The court rewarded him with a large amount of tea and sent many monks to Tubo to cure diseases and spread Buddhism.

Zen Master Huizheng also brought his disciples with him and prepared to go to Tubo.

Before leaving, Zen Master Huizheng looked back at the majestic Chang'an City and said some meaningful words to Wang Wei who had come to see him off.

"Your Highness, I know what you are thinking. If the Buddhists care about the sufferings of the people and persuade people to be good, then the Buddha's light will shine everywhere. But if we monks forget the Buddha's teachings and pursue worldly desires, we will fall into the abyss."

(End of this chapter)