According to Li Xiang's idea, he thought he would return home after three days, but he didn't expect to visit the next day. It seems that many rules of the Tang Dynasty are still different from those in modern society. Modern society should inherit the rules of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Li Chengqian was naturally very satisfied with his daughter-in-law. He drank this cup of tea with his daughter-in-law. Li Chengqian had several sons getting married, and he didn't know how many times he would drink this cup of tea in a year. Of course, the weddings of those sons were not so grand.
The palace was cleaned early in preparation for today's grand ceremony. Although yesterday was the wedding ceremony, today is the day to meet the emperor. Li Xiang is the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Xiang's wife may become the empress of the Tang Dynasty in the future, so this etiquette is still very important.
The court ministers were also dressed in new clothes, especially the princes in the court. Although many happy events had been held during this period, most of them did not require such grand ceremony. Only the next generation of heirs to the Tang Dynasty would be so grand.
When Li Xiang and his wife appeared at the door of the hall, many people would say they were a perfect match. Li Shimin had good genes, so the people he gave birth to were all good-looking. But if you were to say that there was anyone who could surpass Li Xiang, there really weren't many who could.
When many people saw Cheng Yaojin's daughter, their cognition was overturned. According to their thinking, how could Cheng Yaojin give birth to such a daughter? They really should investigate whether she is Cheng Yaojin's daughter. With her appearance, even evil spirits can be scared away.
"Greetings to the Emperor! Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor!"
In front of the important officials of the court, the young couple still addressed each other like this. However, since they had to have lunch in the palace, they naturally did not address each other like this.
All the ministers in the court were congratulating, except for some officials in the Ministry of War who had bitter faces. They wished that this scene would pass quickly. The military report from the northwest had already arrived, but it was not convenient to send it over because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince got married yesterday.
After the previous dynasty's congratulations, Li Xiang took his young wife to the ladies in the harem. No matter whether there were any grudges in the past, they had to smile today, even if it was not for Li Xiang's side, then it had to be for Cheng Yaojin's side.
This guy is a tough guy. If you make his daughter feel bad today, although he can't cause trouble in the harem, your son and grandson will be in trouble.
The lunch was also very harmonious. Basically all the concubines with titles came out, and they all praised Cheng Luan a lot, and almost all of her advantages were praised.
The concubines in the harem saw clearly that if they wanted their children and grandchildren to have a good future, besides currying favor with the emperor, they now had a new target to curry favor with. Didn't Li You go to the northwest to collect merits? Some people also wanted to take this path.
"Change your schedule this afternoon. Go to your father-in-law's house for dinner in the evening, and stay in Qinzheng Hall in the afternoon."
When it was almost time for dinner, Li Shimin changed Li Xiang's itinerary. Although it was a bit against the rules, the emperor was the emperor and all the rules were set by the emperor. If he wanted to break the rules, it would just take a word.
Li Xiang also understood what was going on. There must have been a major incident in the northwest. He was so busy arguing with his wife last night that he had put military and national affairs on the back burner.
Cheng Luan did not return to the Eastern Palace, but followed Concubine Yang to the harem. The group of women had plenty of topics to talk about, so Li Xiang followed Li Shimin to the Qinzheng Hall, where ministers from various departments were already waiting.
"Yesterday was your wedding, so I didn't let them bother you. However, the situation in the northwest is already very urgent. This is what Su Dingfang sent back. Gaochang's leadership is currently unstable."
Li Shimin's brief words let Li Xiang know what was going on over there. Xueyantuo Khan was still very capable. He had his own connections in Gaochang. Although the army was now in the west of Gaochang, these spies had already begun to act.
In the recent contacts, Gaochang has witnessed the power of the Tang Dynasty. It is simply impossible for them to confront the Tang Dynasty alone, but if they unite with the countries in the Western Regions, Gaochang still wants to have its own autonomy.
The Tang army was stationed on someone else's territory, which in itself would bring people a sense of insecurity, and this stationing power was obtained through the threat of force. Therefore, as long as Xueyantuo Khan wandered around Gaochang, he would immediately gain a lot of supporters. Although they have not said it explicitly yet, Su Dingfang could feel that the balance in Gaochang was slowly tilting.
Wadahan is a supporter of the Tang Dynasty. If it weren't for the Tang Dynasty, he would not have been able to get to this point. However, this guy's strength in Gaochang is too low, mainly because of his poor background. Although he has made rapid progress with the support of the Tang Dynasty, he is still a little short of influencing the national policy of Gaochang as a whole.
"What do you think?"
For half an hour, Li Shimin did not disturb Li Xiang, allowing him to read the memorials carefully. The military officials around him did not say anything. They were not very familiar with the area. Although they knew a lot from reading the memorials, the specific situation still depended on His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
"In reply to the Emperor, although the situation is urgent, it is generally under control. The Western Region coalition forces are not a monolithic entity. If they were, they would have already begun operations. A hundred thousand men a day would be a considerable expense."
Originally, the people in the court were already somewhat unstable. Although Gaochang was still far away from us, it was related to the major events in the northwest after all, so these people felt that we might face failure. Each country in the Western Regions was not very powerful individually, but if they were to unite, their strength would be considerable.
The Tang Dynasty was currently unable to wage large-scale wars. Relying solely on these local people, it would be difficult to stabilize the situation. However, after Li Xiang spoke, they felt somewhat reassured. "We're facing numerous difficulties here, but don't they have any?" A careful analysis revealed that their difficulties might be even greater than ours. If we persisted like this, we might not be the first to collapse.
"I know it's a bit unreasonable to ask you to go to the Western Regions now..."
At the most critical moment, the only person Li Shimin could trust was his eldest grandson. He said nice things, but in the end he had to let Li Xiang go on an expedition on the wedding date...