I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

Li Shen was too blunt. As a Tang prince, it was somewhat rude to ask people for things the moment they opened their mouths.

It also gave Li Shimin a headache.

Even Li Tai and Li Zhi showed contempt.

I thought to myself, you are a prince of the Tang Dynasty after all, and your family is rich enough to rival a country, yet you actually asked for things from a foreign envoy in public, how shameless of you!

Li Shencai doesn't care what others think. What matters is that he can get benefits, even though these benefits have nothing to do with him.

Lu Dongzan was also defeated by Li Shen's direct treatment.

Couldn't His Royal Highness Prince Ji be more tactful in his words?

But since Li Shen asked, he took out a gift list from his arms and said:

"Your Majesty, the Heavenly Khan, we know that this incident has caused great harm to the Tang Dynasty.

To express his sincerity, the Zamp was willing to offer 5,000 kilograms of gold, 5,000 fine horses, and 10,000 cattle and sheep as compensation.

I hope the Khan will accept it with a smile and make the two countries a friendly country that will last forever."

As he said this, he bowed deeply and presented the gift list with both hands raised high.

Seeing Li Shimin nod, Wang De hurried over, took the gift list and handed it to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin opened it and saw that it was indeed written with these things.

However, he is still undecided now. He needs to return to Chang'an and discuss with the ministers before he can decide whether to fight or make peace.

Everyone present had a blank expression on their face and did not speak. They all knew that this matter could not be settled right now.

Li Shimin glanced at Li Shen next to him with his peripheral vision, and his nose almost became crooked with anger.

Li Shen was seen lowering his head, stretching out ten fingers, fiddling with them back and forth, and mumbling something, but no one knew what he was saying.

"Prince Ji, do you have any ideas?"

Seeing Li Shen like this, Li Shimin asked curiously.

"Your Majesty, I am calculating the value of these things." Li Shen replied and continued fiddling with his fingers.

“…”Everyone was speechless.

Even Lu Dongzan didn't know what to say. This Prince Ji was truly a money-obsessed person.

Others also felt that Li Shen was a little embarrassing.

"Oh, I figured it out." Li Shen suddenly shouted.

Then he looked at Lu Dongzan with contempt.

"You guys are too stingy, the total is less than 1.5 million.

Five thousand kilograms of gold is only worth eight hundred thousand strings of cash.

Lu Dongzan, do you know that this time our Majesty has given out one million in rewards just after the war?

And our total expenditure this time is also one million strings of cash.

You, the Zanpu, only offered 1.5 million strings of cash, and you still call that sincerity?

I think you are humiliating our Tang Dynasty."

Li Shen shouted loudly to express his anger.

The gold was less than one million strings of cash, which was not enough to cover their losses. The cattle, sheep and horses were all calculated according to the market price.

Li Shen hasn't calculated the cost price yet.

It seems that Tubo is not sincere enough.

Lu Dongzan was also confused. Prince Ji said that they would reward him one million strings of cash after the war.

Is the Tang Dynasty so rich now?

Also, their loss was one million strings of cash, which is a little unrealistic.

However, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not refute or show any surprise.

In his opinion, the reward should be real.

"This..." Lu Dongzan was about to speak when Li Shen spoke again:

"What is this? Do you think I am lying to you?

I tell you, if you are less than 5 million guan in compensation, there is no point in talking. Just wait for our cavalry."

"Five million strings of cash?" Not to mention Lu Dongzan, even everyone on the Tang side was dumbfounded.

Prince Ji really asked for a huge sum of money, demanding five million strings of cash right away.

Their annual tax revenue may not even reach five million strings of cash.

Li Shimin was both angry and amused. His son was really used to being rich and powerful, and he could ask for millions without any effort.

He didn't even think about the fact that Tubo was a nomadic people and didn't have so much money and taxes.

But if he could really get Li Shen to come over, he would still be very happy.

"Your Highness Prince Ji, it is said that the Tang Dynasty is a country of etiquette, but it is surprising that they also value money so much.

If His Royal Highness Prince Ji uses this to threaten Tubo, then he is totally wrong."

Lu Dongzan was almost confused by Li Shen's anger, and his words became tough.

"Humph, Lu Dongzan, you killed so many of our soldiers and attacked the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

You want to use a mere one million strings of cash to push the blame onto the Western Turks.

Do you really think everyone is stupid?"

Li Shen snorted coldly without giving in.

"Your Highness Prince Ji, this was originally done by the Western Turks."

"How dare you talk nonsense!

Then I ask you, what happened to Yang Shaowei? According to Yang Shaowei's testimony, he was bewitched by you into your trap and finally rebelled.

You told me that this matter has nothing to do with you? That's ridiculous.

You know what those substances Yang Shaowei put there are.

Who instructed Yang Shaowei to rebel in the city? Do you need me to explain it more clearly?"

Li Shen shouted angrily, interrupting Lu Dongzan's continued defense. Li Shen did not like hypocrisy in politics. It was either do it or go away.

There is no point in arguing endlessly. If the court chooses not to fight for some reasons, Li Shen can understand it, and then they can disband.

After all, a country has many things to consider, and they cover many aspects.

But if the court decides to go to war, Li Shen will also express his support.

Lu Dongzan was powerless to refute Li Shen's words. Indeed, Yang Shaowei was a flaw. If he had known this, he would not have gone to see Yang Shaowei.

At that time, Lu Dongzan went to meet him in person in order to show his importance to Yang Shaowei and make him feel at ease.

"What? You have nothing to say? Lu Dongzan, go back and tell your Zamp that whether to fight or make peace is not up to you.

This depends on the decision of His Majesty the Emperor.

If you really want to apologize, then show your sincerity.

If His Majesty the Emperor is satisfied, he may spare you Tubo for the sake of the people of the world.

Otherwise, I will razed your city of Lhasa and burned your Potala Palace."

After hearing Li Shen's last words, Lu Dongzan's face turned pale. He no longer paid attention to Li Shen. This kid was sharp-tongued and did not play by the rules.

He looked up at Li Shimin and said:

“Your Majesty, the Heavenly Khan, I don’t know what your Majesty means.

I, Tubo, am truly sincere and do not want the two countries to go to war.

This matter was indeed caused by the Western Turks who bewitched our Tubo. Our Tubo is willing to increase the compensation in exchange for the peaceful coexistence of the two countries."

"Duke Zhao, what do you think?" Li Shimin did not answer, but asked Changsun Wuji who had been silent all the time.

Changsun Wuji never expressed his opinion from beginning to end.

As prime minister, Li Shimin wanted to hear what Zhangsun Wuji thought.

“Your Majesty, this matter cannot be decided in a short time. Even if we want to attack Tubo, we have to return before we can mobilize the troops.

Therefore, I, this old minister, thinks that as His Royal Highness Prince Ji said, since Tubo is sincere, then we should show our sincerity.

After Your Majesty returns to Chang'an, we will discuss this with important ministers.

It would be best if Tubo also sent envoys to Chang'an, so that if the court made any requests, the envoys could report back as soon as possible."