"Wait, what is General Qin saying? Have we already been defeated?"
Prime Minister Midu did not allow General Qin Qiong to continue speaking, because what General Qin Qiong said was really too much. Even if Tuyuhun was defeated, some of the conditions might not be agreed to.
The first thing is to let their Khan go to Chang'an City to apologize, which is simply nonsense. If their Khan went to Chang'an City and was detained, wouldn't the entire Tuyuhun be leaderless?
Let’s talk about the second open trade route. You must know that the trade route is the largest financial pillar for Tuyuhun. If it is opened like this, their fiscal revenue will drop by more than one third, or even more. At that time, won’t the entire Tuyuhun be out of money?
The most terrible thing is to build a new city. Liangzhou City now poses a great threat to them. If they are asked to build a new city in the southwest of Liangzhou City, it would be like hammering a nail into the grassland. They don't know how many troops they will have to send to keep an eye on this nail. Not to mention the money it will cost in the long run, they will have to live in fear every day. I'm afraid this is something that no Tuyuhun person can accept.
"This is not a defeat agreement, but rather a statement issued by the Tang court after careful consideration. I hope Prime Minister Midu will consider it carefully."
General Qin Qiong waved his hand and the personal soldiers beside him presented the letter from the kingdom.
"This is sheer nonsense. Your Tang Dynasty is unworthy of being called the Celestial Empire. Isn't this bullying our small nation and its people?"
In addition to the conditions just proposed by General Qin Qiong, there were some other clauses that they could not agree to. When Prime Minister Mi Du saw these terms, his beard was so angry that it almost stood up.
"Prime Minister, we are not to blame for this. When your Crown Prince assassinated our Prince Changsun in Chang'an, he should have anticipated all of this. If your actions hadn't been so extreme, we could have coexisted peacefully. However, judging by the current situation, the Tang Dynasty must punish Tuyuhun."
General Qin Qiong said righteously that, to be honest, the Tuyuhun were used to being arrogant, and they always thought that the Tang Dynasty would not really go to war. But when they saw this imperial edict, they realized that the Tang Dynasty had actually tolerated them for a long time, and this time the Tang Dynasty finally got the opportunity.
"It's easy to find a pretext to accuse someone. How can you prove that our Crown Prince attacked your Grand Highness? You've just said it all yourself. And yet, our Crown Prince is still being held captive by you. As far as I know, you don't have any evidence, do you?"
The prime minister had noticed Li Xiang a long time ago. Although Li Xiang was wearing black armor, the clothes underneath were bright yellow. He should be a member of the Tang Dynasty royal family, but no one knew which prince Li Xiang was.
"Is it really that important whether there's evidence or not?"
Li Xiang hadn't said anything, but when Prime Minister Midu looked at him, Li Xiang's words came out.
"What do you mean?"
Prime Minister Midu frowned and said, "How could a young man speak so arrogantly? Even if you are a member of the Tang Dynasty royal family, this is not the place for you to speak."
"The Tuyuhun are nothing but a clown. If the Tang Dynasty wants to take action against you, it's just a matter of a word. If we are happy, we can find evidence. If we are unhappy, we will still attack you even without evidence."
Li Xiang thrust his body forward and said these words in a very arrogant manner. General Qin Qiong beside him also smiled and shook his head. He was still a child after all, but these words were encouraging.
"What qualifications do you have to say that?"
Prime Minister Mi Du was almost furious, but he thought Li Xiang was not a very important figure. If he was a very important figure, how could he be sent to the front line? Even if he was a member of the royal family, he was still a marginal figure.
"Prime Minister, let me introduce you. This is our Emperor's eldest grandson."
General Qin Qiong stood up and said that although Li Xiang was his subordinate in his own home, he had to give Li Xiang enough face in front of others.
Is this the Li Xiang?
Prime Minister Midu has received many secret reports from Chang'an City recently, most of which are directly related to Li Xiang. At that time, he was very interested in Li Xiang. Now, seeing this imposing man in front of him, he was so angry that his teeth were itching. Why don't we have such young talents in Tuyuhun?
"Does Your Highness think that we Tuyuhun can be slaughtered at will?"
Prime Minister Midu bowed slightly, which was considered as courtesy.
"My Great Tang is as big as an ox, and you Tuyuhun are as small as a mouse. No matter how great your advantages may be at certain times, when facing my Great Tang, your disadvantages will soon become apparent. My Great Tang only needs to designate the southwestern provinces as war zones, and the rest of the country can continue to develop steadily, just importing food and soldiers. But you Tuyuhun, your entire territory is a battlefield, you don't even have a place to recuperate. You will have at least three months, at most half a year. Can you, Tuyuhun, still hold out?"
Li Xiang said these words easily, but Prime Minister Mi Du was already scared silly. In the past, everyone knew the gap between the Tang Dynasty and Tuyuhun, but no one summarized these words, so they thought that the danger was still far away, and they didn't know how the Tang Dynasty would deal with them. But when Li Xiang said this, Prime Minister Mi Du was really speechless.
"I, Tuyuhun, possess hundreds of thousands of skilled warriors. Under the leadership of my Khan, your southwestern border will never find peace unless we surrender. Moreover, our cavalry can come and go without a trace, and you will never be able to catch us."
The two sides are conducting diplomatic negotiations. Even if the other party has stepped on his vital point, Prime Minister Midu cannot show any cowardice. If he shows any cowardice at this time, it will be easy for the other party to take advantage of the situation and pursue him.
"Why should we capture you? This grassland has been your home since ancient times. You are much more familiar with it than we are..."
When Li Xiang said this, Prime Minister Midu and the people behind him nodded with a smug look on their faces. It’s good that you can understand this, kid. Maybe your Tang Dynasty is very powerful in other places, but if you come to the Tuyuhun grassland, you have to coil up like a dragon and lie down like a tiger. You can’t do anything special.
General Qin Qiong was also puzzled. Why are you boosting others' morale and destroying your own prestige?