Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 599 My Despicableness
On the Double Ninth Festival of the second year of Zhengxing, the city of Chang'an was preparing to welcome the northwestern border troops to return and offer captives, when suddenly hearty shouts rang out on Suzaku Street.

"Hahaha, Chang'an, Cen Twenty-Seventh Lang is back!"

A plump woman carrying a basket of vegetables was attracted by the shouting. She turned around and saw a group of dusty athletes entering the city.

She raised her eyebrows and couldn't help but praise to herself: "What a strong horse, what a strong man."

The men walked by at a leisurely pace, and some of them turned to look at the woman.

"With her hair full of yellow flowers, I think she is quite pretty."

"That's because you stayed in the desert for too long. I only taught you to open your eyes after staying in Sanqu."

"If we go to Sanqu, Cen Changshi will write a few more good poems anyway."

Cen Shen was looking up to feel the autumn breeze of Chang'an City. After hearing what his subordinates said, he said, "You go now. I will go to the palace to see the emperor."

"You're going to see the emperor as soon as you enter the capital?"

"That's right, I will feel relieved now that I have completed the task." Cen Shen was in high spirits and laughed loudly twice. He waved goodbye to them at the intersection in front of Pingkangfang and went to Daming Palace.

Gradually, the palace came into sight. He dismounted and led the horse forward. His steps became slower and slower until he finally stopped.

The last time he came here was when he was admitted to the imperial examination. It had been many years since they last met, and the city had not changed much, but his mood was very different.

"The mountains and rivers embrace the magnificent imperial capital..."

Just as the poetic inspiration arose in his mind, Cen Shen saw Yan Quanming walking towards him out of the corner of his eye.

After the two men exchanged greetings, Yan Quanming led Cen Shen to the Secretariat to wait for a while, and then he and a group of important ministers went inside to meet the emperor to discuss the matter of offering captives.

There are many important officials in the court today who are acquaintances of Cen Shen in the past, but today his mind is not on reminiscing and building relationships with them, and he can't help but be distracted.

Although he had known about Xue Bai's ascension to the throne a long time ago, the fact that the young man who used to drink and write poetry with him suddenly became the emperor and the absurdity of the world still made him feel unreal.

When he came to his senses, he had already entered the Xuan Zheng Hall. When he looked up again, the emperor was standing there, wearing an ochre-yellow robe, as if the image of the wise emperor in his mind was reflected before his eyes.

Cen Shen was stunned for a moment and could no longer remember the scenes of drinking and writing poetry with Xue Bai in the past.

At this time, some officials had already begun to praise him.

In recent years, Cen Shen first returned to Guanzhong with the Anxi Army to quell the rebellion, then went to Hebei to cultivate land, and then followed Feng Changqing back to support Anxi and Beiting. He made many contributions. This time when he returns to the court, he will surely be reused.

As for the recovery of the Hexi Corridor this time, due to the internal strife in Tubo, the Tang army was well prepared and attacked from both sides. It can be said that they were unstoppable. The capture of Dazalugong was an unexpected surprise.

What we are discussing today is the arrangements for presenting prisoners, and the person who mainly talked about this matter is Yuan Zai.

This was the first great victory for the emperor since he ascended the throne. Yuan Zai guessed the emperor's intention and planned to follow the process of Gao Xianzhi offering the little King of Bolor.

Cen Shen looked over, but saw that the emperor did not have a complacent look on his face. Instead, his eyes were solemn and filled with a hint of thoughtfulness.

From beginning to end, Xue Bai never had a single word with Cen Shen, let alone reminisce about the past. He only rewarded Cen Shen in the end and appointed him as the Right Prime Minister of the Honglu Temple. In fact, he would rather be sent to a remote place and was not very happy with such a position.

The next day, Cen Shen went to the Honglu Temple in the imperial city and met Yan Quanming, who was then the left chancellor of the Honglu Temple.

He originally thought that the Honglu Temple was most busy with the ceremony of offering captives, but Yan Quanming said: "You may think that the Honglu Temple is only responsible for foreign countries and court ceremonies, but after Your Majesty ascended the throne, things have changed a lot."

"What does this mean?"

"Come with me."

Yan Quanming led Cen Shen all the way inside. He ignored many people he met on the way, but there was only one person who made him stop.

"That man's name is Jia Dan."

Cen Shen looked over and saw that Jia Dan was a tall and thin official. He was walking and looking at a large blueprint in his hand. He didn't even raise his head and didn't notice them at all.

"What's so special about him?" Cen Shen asked.

"He seems to believe what Your Majesty said." Yan Quanming said.

"What's wrong with this?" Cen Shen was confused.

"The world is round."

"what?"

Yan Quanming said: "Your Majesty said that the world is round, Jia Dan believes it."

Cen Shen asked, "What does this mean?"

"For example, you, Cen Twenty-Seventh Lang, walked westward from the Western Regions. In the end, you would return to the Tang Dynasty from the east."

Cen Shen raised his eyebrows and looked at Jia Dan again, keeping in mind the other party's serious thinking expression.

The two continued walking and arrived at Yan Quanming's official residence. After bypassing Pingxian, a large map appeared before them.

"You and I are in charge of foreign ceremonies, so we should know how many foreign countries there are in the world, including Tubo, the Western Regions, Daqin, Byzantine, and here, the place that His Majesty ordered people to build ships to explore..."

Cen Shen looked at it for a long time before he gradually reacted.

"Let's talk about Tubo." Yan Quanming said, "Do you know how Wang Nan captured Dazalugong in the battle of Shanzhou?"

"I guess Dazalugong didn't expect the royal army to attack him at this time?"

"There is internal strife in Tubo." Yan Quanming said, "What I am going to tell you next is confidential, but since you have been transferred to the Right Prime Minister of the Honglu Temple, you should know it."

Cen Shen's expression became serious and he waited for what was to come.

Yan Quanming first started by talking about the previous time when he sent envoys to Tubo and brought back Trisong Detsen on the pretext of the internal strife in Tubo.

"Dazarugong actually lost outside of the war. He was too eager to welcome back the Zamp, so he fell into the king's trap. The court captured him alive not just to show off its power, but sooner or later they would release him and Trisong Detsen."

"Let him go back and fight for power with Ma Xiang?"

"Yes, not only that, we also need to make them truly respect the Tang Dynasty and integrate into the Tang Dynasty. We need to make sure that after they return to Tubo, they still admire and miss their life in Chang'an. We need to make them use the Tang language and read Tang books, and gradually make them a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty like Nanzhao did."

Cen Shen couldn't help but ask: "Can it be done? I mean, by changing Trisong Detsen and Dazha Lugong, can we change the entire Tubo?"

He had served in the army in the Western Regions for many years, and most of the time he had fought against Tubo. He knew that Tubo was a powerful country that could rival the Tang Dynasty in terms of national strength due to its geographical location.

"Not enough, but we have patience, ten years, twenty years, fifty years." Yan Quanming said: "If the Tang Dynasty wants to conquer Tubo, it is not enough to rely on military force, we need to integrate it with civilization. In the past, Emperor Taizong had the spirit of the Heavenly Khan. Now we want to revive the Tang Dynasty, why can't we tolerate Tubo?"

Cen Shen, who returned to Chang'an from the Western Regions, knew that the war to defend the border and expand territory had not yet ended, but there were more means and the goals were more ambitious.

The Tang Dynasty is like a wounded beast. After recovering from its wounds, it is becoming stronger little by little.

~~
A few days later, a grand ceremony of presenting captives was held in front of the Suzaku Gate.

The Tang army brought Trisong Detsen and Nalanzhen back to Chang'an again. On the surface, they fled to Chang'an because of the persecution of the treacherous minister Maxiang. They took the initiative to help the Tang army persuade the Tibetan generals to surrender and captured Dazalugong alive.

Such words make this war less hateful and more peaceful.

So, in front of all the people in the city, Dazalugong knelt down before Trisong Detsen and repented, and lived in Chang'an with the exiled king.

That night, Xue Bai held a banquet in the palace.

Trisong Detsen had the indifference and calmness of a monk. He accepted it calmly and watched the performance calmly. From time to time, he would chat with the Tang court officials and even improvise a poem.

Dazalugong sat there with a depressed look on his face, drinking silently, thinking about how Jie Li Khan was captured by Emperor Taizong of Tang and taken to Chang'an to dance, and now the Zamp was composing poetry here. Although they seemed different, they were actually both in the situation of being dependent on others.

Nalan Zhen kept her head down, not knowing what she was thinking.

When the banquet was in full swing, Xue Bai looked at Trisong Detsen and asked casually, "How old are you, Zanpu?"

"Your Majesty, I am already eighteen years old."

"Is there a marriage?"

"Married the daughter of Cai Bang of Tubo."

"Your Majesty." Yan Quanming stood up and said, "Before, the Zamp had asked the Tang Dynasty to marry a princess, in order to emulate the good story of Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng, but it didn't work out at that time. Now that he has come to Chang'an in person, it can be said that good things take time. Your Majesty, why don't you choose a princess from the royal family to marry him?"

Upon hearing this, before Trisong Detsen could react much, Nalanzhen's face changed.

The situation at that time was completely different from now. At that time, it was Tubo that asked the Tang Dynasty for a marriage alliance, but now the Tang Dynasty chose a "royal girl" to marry Trisong Detsen, which was obviously a form of control and exploitation.

Although she was said to be a member of the royal family, she was actually just a female spy trained by the Tang court.

She wanted to refuse on behalf of Trisong Detsen, so she stood up with the wine glass in her hand, but she heard Trisong Detsen's response.

"If Your Majesty can show mercy, I would be more than happy to receive your help."

"..."

An eunuch walked up to Xue Bai and whispered, "Your Majesty, just now, Pugu Huai'en passed away."

"A rich burial."

Xue Bai originally held a glass of wine but did not drink it. After hearing this, he drank the glass of wine as a farewell to Pugu Huai'en.

He ordered the banquet to be over and returned to Xuan Zheng Hall to deal with some matters left over after Puguo Huai'en's death.

In fact, Pugu Huai'en's memorial of grievance and apology was still on Xue Bai's desk. Xue Bai saw that he was still feeling resentful and angry.

"Too obsessed." Xue Bai commented in his heart.

He is different from Pugu Huai'en. He is a person who will do anything to achieve his goal.

"His Majesty."

"What's the matter?" "The Tibetan princess refused to leave the palace under the pretext of changing clothes and wanted to see Your Majesty."

Xue Bai put down Pugu Huai'en's memorial, thought for a moment, and said, "Bring her over here."

The candlelight in the hall flickered, but it could only illuminate the area near the imperial desk, which seemed empty and lonely. When Na Lanzhen came in again, she saw Xue Bai sitting there alone, with a cold and aloof look, and she felt that he was not that bad.

Nalanzhen suffered the pain of losing her country and her family. She had traveled all the way here but achieved nothing. Her spirit was on the verge of collapse, but she was still holding on.

She gritted her teeth and fell to her knees.

"I know what your majesty wants to do. I came here this time to tell your majesty that Trisong Detsen and I are convinced. Your majesty, please let us go back to Tubo. After getting rid of Ma Xiang, we are willing to serve your majesty as our master and be a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty for generations."

"What's the hurry? You just arrived in Chang'an."

"Ma Xiang has established the Zamp. After a long time, it will be difficult to deal with him. If we let him sort out state affairs, he will once again raise an army to invade the Tang Dynasty..."

Xue Bai interrupted her and asked, "Why do you come to me again? Why do you think I will agree to your request?"

"We will give you everything your majesty wants. There is no benefit in delaying it."

“You can’t give it to me yet.”

Na Lanzhen burst into tears, looking lonely and helpless, and said, "Your Majesty, why can't you trust us just once? We have repeatedly shown goodwill, but Your Majesty has always refused to believe in our sincerity."

"Your sincerity? You just kneel down because you are scared of being beaten." Xue Bai said, "Before, didn't you think that a ceasefire was a favor to me?"

Na Lanzhen was stunned. She didn't expect that her feelings in her heart could be captured so keenly by him.

Xue Bai walked up to him and leaned over to look into her eyes.

"I captured you, taught you, and released you. You said you were grateful, but you looked down on the Tang Dynasty when you saw the civil strife. You deliberately allowed Ma Xiang and Dazalugong to send troops, and then contacted the Tang Dynasty for peace talks. You and I are equally selfish. What sincerity do you have?"

"Master..."

"When I look into your eyes now, I still fear your power but not your virtue."

Na Lanzhen lowered her head in panic, not knowing how to answer, but the tears in her eyes flowed more and more violently.

This is her last weapon.

"You don't know my feelings at all."

"Oh?"

"I could have married a prince of Nanzhao or a chieftain of a Tibetan tribe, but you taught me how to fight for it." Nalan Zhen burst into tears when she said this. "Why am I doing this so hard? It's because of your wish. I know you hope that I can take power in Tibetan and keep peace between the two countries... If it weren't for you, why would I have to live like this?"

Xue Bai shook his head, somewhat sarcastically.

Na Lanzhen raised her eyes and looked at him deeply, and murmured, "Don't you know what I feel?"

"Why do you have to live like this?" Xue Bai asked, "Isn't it because you are intoxicated with power and can't give it up?"

"I'm not." Nalan Zhen cried, "I know I shouldn't think about you, but I can't help it. I have always felt that letting Tubo and Tang live in peace is my love for you."

"It seems that you have learned it." Xue Bai still had that indifferent and sarcastic expression.

Na Lanzhen wiped her tears, but they wouldn't dry. She said aggrievedly, "I can't help it if you don't believe me. Anyway, I told you what I feel."

Xue Bai did not respond to her, and the hall became quiet, with only the sound of sobbing.

Gradually, the sneer on Xue Bai's face turned into self-mockery.

"Your Majesty?" Nalan Zhen couldn't help but call out in a low voice again.

"Do you really think this will soften my heart?" Xue Bai said, "You are just like me, selfish, ambitious, and unscrupulous."

"Your Majesty is a man of love and justice, a benevolent and righteous ruler."

"Do you know how I became rich? I took refuge with the treacherous prime minister, clung to the Lady of Guo, and committed adultery in the imperial palace... I did all kinds of dirty and despicable things before I finally got the throne of the Tang Dynasty. All along, the accusations against me were almost all true."

Xue Bai seemed to be talking about other people's affairs, his tone was flat, and he did not shy away from his own misdeeds.

"I have been so mean and shameless all the way here, and you actually want to kidnap me by claiming to be 'loving and righteous'?"

Na Lanzhen was stunned for a moment and forgot to continue crying.

She looked at the man in front of her with a dull look. Because of his handsome and majestic appearance, she still couldn't reconcile him with the shameless image he described, so she couldn't judge what Xue Bai meant by what he said.

Is that an irony?

Because he had endured too much, he finally went crazy after becoming emperor. Was he saying these sarcastic words because he needed comfort?
"You are not like that." Na Lanzhen stood up and carefully moved closer to Xue Bai, saying, "I know you are a good person..."

“I like power.”

Xue Bai looked at her and suddenly said this.

His eyes were calm, as if he was not only speaking to Nalan Zhen, but was trying to reveal his true feelings to the world.

"From the beginning, I was cunning, unscrupulous, immoral, and used every possible means. I hated people being superior to me, so I climbed up step by step. I always knew that without power as a guarantee, all friendship was empty."

Xue Bai became calmer as he spoke.

It's like a person wearing tight, ill-fitting clothes finally takes off his clothes and stands there naked, looking very relaxed and natural.

The tears on Na Lanzhen's face dried up and she stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do with Xue Bai.

Xue Bai said: "I taught you at that time because you and I are equally ambitious. You were able to cause chaos in Tubo, but you didn't have the ability to revive Tubo."

"you……"

Na Lanzhen had been scolding Xue Bai for breaking the alliance before. Perhaps she had already thought about it at that time. She wanted to make him feel guilty, and wait until tonight to cry, maybe she could move him. But when he admitted his despicable behavior, he had no flaws in front of her, and she was at a loss.

Xue Bai didn't care much about her.

What he enjoys is the time when he becomes himself again, not being bound by any frameworks such as "wise and enlightened emperor", "benevolent and righteous king", "open-minded and willing to accept advice", "upright mind and clear virtue", etc.

He said this to put himself back into the state of mind that was full of ambition and determined to climb up by any means necessary, and to feel comfortable.

As for what Nalan Zhen thought, it didn't matter to him at all.

The candlelight flickered for a while, and Xue Bai glanced at the table and regained his composure.

Just like a shirtless man wearing a loose and comfortable imperial robe, he is still the monarch of the Tang Dynasty, which is in a state of disrepair.

"Stand off." He waved his hand.

Nalan Zhen retreated unwillingly, knowing that she would have to be imprisoned in Chang'an for a long time until her spirit was worn down and she became more and more in awe of the Tang Dynasty.

Suddenly, she stopped.

"His Majesty."

Her lips trembled a little, but she still spoke.

As Xue Bai said, she is indeed a very ambitious person and wants to climb up by any means necessary.

"I have always been taught by you. I can do what you have done." Na Lanzhen said, with no trace of grievance on her face.

"so what?"

"I want to give birth to a son and bring him back to Tubo, a son between you and me." Nalan Zhen walked towards Xue Bai again, her eyes filled with confidence and determination, "Isn't this more trustworthy than Trisong Detsen?"

Xue Bai looked at her again and was finally a little surprised.

I wasn't surprised by her stupid idea, but I was surprised by her unscrupulous way of doing things, which was really similar to myself in the past.

Climbing up step by step and seizing power requires a huge price to pay, and they are people who are willing to sacrifice themselves.

~~
The second year of Zhengxing passed slowly. Hexi was recovered, Tubo retreated temporarily, and the vassal states no longer proposed the father-to-son succession system. The Tang Dynasty finally began to stabilize.

Only then did Xue Bai ascend the throne of emperor. Before that, he was actually at risk of being overthrown at any time.

On the day of winter solstice, he discussed some state affairs with Yan Zhenqing and then invited him to a dinner at home, which was actually just eating dumplings together.

Yan Zhenqing waved his hand and refused.

As the situation gradually stabilized, his personal relationship with Xue Bai became increasingly distant. Whenever they met, he would always have a stern face and handle business in a impartial manner. He must have been afraid that others would say that he was a relative of the emperor and was usurping power.

The only thing he cared about was the education of the Eastern Palace, and he mentioned it again before leaving.

"We can follow what you said," Xue Bai said. "By the way, did the Central Secretariat reject the document for building a sea-going ship?"

Xue Bai had originally planned to talk about this matter at the family dinner, but Yan Zhenqing was leaving, so he had to tell it now.

"Yes, the treasury is short of money and food. At this time, it is not appropriate to squander it on illusory things."

"What do you mean by 'waste'? What do you mean by 'illusory'?" Xue Bai smiled and said, "This matter will be extremely beneficial to the Tang Dynasty in the long run."

"Your Majesty, how about allowing the Secretariat to discuss this further?"

Xue Bai nodded and decided not to mention the matter for the time being.

All the court officials opposed this matter, but he was not willing to act on his own like he did in the affairs of the vassal states.

After he privately revealed his true feelings in front of Nalan Zhen, he had vented all his anger and there was nothing to be upset about. As a result, he became much more open-minded and now always maintained the appearance of a wise ruler in front of the court officials.

Right now, he and Yan Zhenqing are complementing each other...

(End of this chapter)