Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4806 Songtsen Gampo
Looking out the open window, the afterglow of the setting sun shines obliquely on the snow on the distant peaks, casting a golden glow, the sky is blue and white, and the sky is clear. The breeze blows the wind chimes under the eaves like a string of flowers, and the steam rises from the boiling spring water.

Songtsen Gampo, dressed in a red monk's robe, sat cross-legged on a cushion in front of the window, watching Sambuza take the kettle off the stove, grab a handful of tea leaves and put them into the white porcelain teapot, then fill it with boiling water, put the kettle aside, and turn around to make tea.

The light green tea soup is poured into the white porcelain teacup, and the aroma is soothing and relaxing.

Songtsen Gampo picked up the teacup, took a sip, and savored the tea with great concentration. He then smacked his lips and said slowly, "Tea is just leaves, but after being fried by the skilled hands of the Tang people, its price has increased ten thousand times. Porcelain is just soil, but after being fired with a secret high temperature method, it has become very valuable... The skills of the Tang people were unparalleled in the world. Ordinary things could be used to collect money to supplement the country's expenses. It is truly amazing."

There was a lot of sighing and envy in his words.

When he proposed to marry Princess Bhrikuti, the princess brought a "Mingju Dorje Buddha Statue" into the city of Lhasa. This was a life-size statue of Sakyamuni at the age of eight, and it was extremely noble, so this "Resa Temple" was built to house it.

The Tubo people called goats "Re", and white goats were their sacred totem. They called soil "Sa", and "Resa" meant "built with soil carried by white goats", which was Tubo's respect and reverence for the "Mingjiu Dorje Buddha Statue".

The temple consisted of only a few halls, but it consumed 30% of the tax revenue and took three years to build.

In order to pray for the late Empress Wende, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty decided to build a Da Ci'en Temple in Chang'an City. He used only the royal treasury instead of the national treasury. It was said that the temple was a hundred times larger than the Jokhang Temple. It gathered rare wood from all over the world and thousands of skilled craftsmen. The main structure was completed in two years with almost no effort...

Even though Songtsen Gampo was ambitious and confident, the huge gap in national strength between the two countries still made him somewhat depressed.

Sambhota sat opposite Songtsen Gampo, seemingly unaware of the Zamp's emotional fluctuations. He sipped his tea quietly until he finished a cup of tea, put down the cup, and then said slowly: "The ice three feet thick is not formed in a day. The prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and the weakness of Tubo cannot be reversed overnight. The Zamp must not be impatient for quick success. But it is a truth that everything in the world will decline after reaching its peak. Foreign invasions, frequent natural disasters, internal strife... and other reasons can cause huge losses. It only takes 30 to 50 years for prosperity to decline. With the strength of the Han Dynasty, didn't it eventually fall apart and disintegrate? We only need to formulate laws, reform the army, consolidate the foundation, and keep an eye on the dynamics of the Central Plains while guarding the gates of the plateau. One day, Tubo will swoop down and rule the Central Plains."

He felt that Zamp was a little impatient, but that was understandable.

Tubo existed for a very long time, but Zamp was the first ruler in Tubo history to unify the plateau. Such great achievements were unprecedented in history and unparalleled in the contemporary times. He should have swooped down from the plateau with the Tubo cavalry to rule China and establish great achievements. However, he encountered the Tang Empire, which ended the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty and rose rapidly to dominate the world with its majestic power. He had to manage the plateau with caution to prevent the Tang Empire from rushing to the plateau and burning down Tubo's hundreds of years of foundation.

I can only sigh, "It's fate, what can I do?"...

But precisely because the situation is unfavorable, we must be "steady" and wait for the situation to change rather than facing challenges head-on.

Tibet was now too poor and too weak. Even if the Tang Dynasty fell into decline for some reason, Tibet would not be able to seize the opportunity.

Songtsen Gampo nodded, took a roasted walnut kernel from the plate on the ash wood coffee table, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and signaled to Sambhota: "Make tea."

After Sambuza brewed a cup of tea, Songtsen Gampo took a sip and sighed, "Do you think I made some mistakes in dealing with Dongzan Yusong?"

"Dongzan Yusong" is the real name of Lu Dongzan. His full name is "Gar Dongzan Yusong". Only the common people call him "Lu Dongzan"...

Sambuza turned around and scooped spring water from the bucket beside him to fill the kettle, then put the kettle back on the stove and turned back.

Hearing this, he frowned and said, "Whether it's right or wrong, the thing has been done and cannot be changed. Why should the Zanpu worry about the gains and losses?"

He felt that ever since Lu Dongzan was expelled to Fuqi City and relied on the Tang people to grow rapidly, the Zamp's emotions have been fluctuating, and he has shown regret from time to time, which is very different from the Zamp's previous tough style of killing and decisiveness.

"Although a mere Gar tribe is far from being able to shake the foundation of the Tubo state, he is after all my prime minister, Dongzan Yusong."

Songtsen Gampo has cooperated with Lu Dongzan for many years and is well aware of Lu Dongzan's abilities. Even if he is conceited, he understands that it would be impossible to unify the plateau without Lu Dongzan's assistance. Now that he is an enemy of Lu Dongzan, who has received funding from the Tang Dynasty, he is unable to sleep or eat.

Who can sleep well with a tiger lying beside you?

Sangbuza thought for a moment and said, "Zamp's worry is justified. Nalu Post guards the gateway to Dafei River. Once it is lost, the entire Dafei River will fall into the hands of the Gar tribe. The area north of the Orla Mountain will be lost. The Gar tribe can attack or defend by controlling the Orla Pass. The situation will be extremely unfavorable for us. Lebujie is a man of courage but no strategy. He can only charge into battle but not defend the city. Moreover, once the Gar tribe, with the support of the Tang Dynasty, becomes ambitious and takes the lead in attacking Nalu Post, Lun Qinling will definitely be the one leading the army to attack. Compared with him, Lebujie is really not good enough."

Songtsen Gampo glanced at Sambuza and shook his head: "You are the head of the civil service, you should be tolerant."

Lebujie was already a rare powerful general in Tubo. Although he lacked wisdom, he was not a fool. With the geographical advantage of Nalu Post, he only needed to hold his ground and control the mountain pass. With Nuanquan Post behind him for support at any time, even if he could not defeat Lun Qinling, he would not be completely defeated. At the very least, he could hold out for more than a month and delay Lun Qinling's steps, giving the Lhasa city more time to make arrangements calmly.

Sambuza emphasized that this was not the first or second time that Lebujie had to be replaced. Songtsen Gampo believed that he did so not because he really did not recognize Lebujie's ability, but because Lebujie was Chisang Yangton's younger brother. Allowing Chisang Yangton to control the defense of Lhasa City and reach out to Dayechuan was not in Sambuza's interest.

Everyone knows that this Zamp has "Four Wise Ministers" under his command. Now that Lu Dongzan has been exiled to Qinghai Lake, the civil officials in Luoxie City are headed by Sangbuza, and the military generals are headed by Chisang Yangdon. The struggle between the civil and military officials is extremely fierce.

This was also the reason why he regretted exiling Lu Dongzan. He exiled Lu Dongzan because, as the head of the civil officials, Lu Dongzan was too strong and interfered in the military affairs everywhere, which caused strong dissatisfaction in the military and threatened his position as the Zamp. But now Lu Dongzan was no longer in Luoshui City, and the struggle had not decreased, but became more intense...

Sambhota knew what Songtsen Gampo was thinking, so he just nodded slightly. When he heard Songtsen Gampo's slightly dissatisfied tone, he said no more. He just hoped that things would not go to the worst.

Songtsen Gampo chewed walnut kernels. Now that he mentioned Lu Dongzan, he had a doubt that had been lingering in his mind for many years. "When Dongzan Yusong went to the Tang Dynasty to ask for marriage, things went smoothly at the beginning. The officials and royal family of the Tang Dynasty were optimistic about it. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was mobilizing the whole country to march east. It was a correct strategy to make peace with Tubo and settle the western border without any worries. But then the Tang Dynasty suddenly changed its attitude. Dongzan Yusong said it was because Fang Jun strongly opposed it, and he said something like 'no marriage, no tribute, no tribute, the emperor guards the country's gates, and the king dies for the country'... What do you think, was it really Fang Jun's words and deeds that forced the Tang emperor to change his mind, or was there something else hidden?"

Sambuza was stunned for a moment and then understood what Songtsen Gampo meant by "other hidden secrets". He frowned and thought for a moment, then said cautiously: "The relationship between me and the Prime Minister has always been at odds, and many political views are contrary to each other. But in this matter, I think the Prime Minister has tried his best. The fact that he failed to make it happen is not his fault."

Every high-ranking Tibetan official was aware of the importance of marrying a princess to the Tang Dynasty. It was a national strategy on a completely different level from the marriage to Nepal. By marrying a princess to the Tang Dynasty and maintaining peace between the two countries, and thus obtaining Tang's support and help in agriculture, medicine, architecture, culture and other aspects, Tibet's national strength would be doubled and lay the foundation for a strong country.

If Lu Dongzan had selfish motives and obstructed the marriage, causing the failure of the marriage and Tubo's plan to become a strong country, then Lu Dongzan would be the sinner of the entire Tubo. Not only would he be cursed by Tubo's descendants for hundreds or thousands of years to come, he would also be cursed by Tubo's descendants for generations to come.

The reason why Songtsen Gampo had such speculation was because Lu Dongzan had a hidden "rebellious heart" and seemed to want to replace him as the king, so he did not want to see Songtsen Gampo become the son-in-law of the Tang emperor and get the help of the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, this is not the case. If Lu Dongzan really has this intention, he should have tried his best to promote this marriage. Because once the marriage is successful, Tubo will get all-round help from the Tang Dynasty and the people will be rich and the country will be strong. In that case, Lu Dongzan will be the first meritorious minister, his prestige will be doubled, and his power will increase greatly. At that time, he will have more confidence to challenge the position of Zamp.

Songtsen Gampo put down his teacup and suddenly wanted to drink. "That was a good opportunity. If we had formed a good relationship with the Tang Dynasty, we could have received all the support from the Tang Dynasty. It would have been easy for Tubo to rise in national strength. Why is it so difficult now, and so exhausted by a bowl of barley wine?"

Barley wine has now become a thorn in his side, but too many tribes have profited from it, and even he, the Zamp, cannot abolish it, otherwise there will be chaos in the world.

There was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the door. Chisang Yangdun, who was wearing leather armor and had a strong body, strode in with great strides. His face was extremely ugly. He didn't even have time to salute. He shouted, "Report to the Zanpu, the news just came from the south. The bastard Dongzan Yusong has raised an army with the support and funding of the Tang Dynasty. His son Lun Qinling personally led the elite troops to capture Nalu Post. Dafeichuan, Nalu Post, and Nuanquan Post were lost. His troops have already headed straight for Liemohai!"

Sambuza shook his head and sighed. The worst situation had indeed occurred.

Songtsen Gampo's face was as gloomy as water. He stared at Trisang Yangdon and asked word by word, "Where is Lebujie, the guard of Luyi?"

Just now he thought that Sangbuza was flattering Chisang Yangdun in front of him, but in the blink of an eye, Naluyi, which was guarded by his brother, was lost and even Dayuechuan was lost. This made him feel hot and ashamed.

(End of this chapter)