Everyone has his or her own hometown complex. When others talk about something bad, they always feel uncomfortable. This is what Li Xiang is saying here. If it were someone else, the Western Turkic Khan might be exposed. What qualifications do you have to comment on my hometown?
"Your Highness, do you have any dissatisfaction with us Turks?"
Although the Western Turkic Khan still remained polite, there was no smile on his face. Both sides were forced to hold this meeting, so if they wanted it to develop perfectly, it could only be kept in dreams.
“The place is nice, but the people are not.”
Seeing that the other party had put away his smile, Li Xiang became even more assertive. This was equivalent to slapping the other person in the face. However, when the Western Turkic Khan slammed the table, Li Xiang was eating roasted lamb while looking at this guy.
Everyone around was nervous, hoping that no conflict would break out. If any conflict did occur, no one knew how it would end.
"Your Highness might as well speak frankly."
The Khan of Western Turkic Khaganate gritted his teeth and said that if it were not for the powerful strength of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xiang might have been killed by him now. However, thinking about the current capabilities of the Tang Dynasty and the days of the Western Turkic Khaganate, he had to suppress his anger.
"You and I are both well aware of what happened this time. Although there is still some evidence missing, there is no need for me to explain exactly what happened. I don't like to drag things out. Let's just say that you should take care of this matter and declare that the Tang Dynasty has nothing to do with it."
Li Xiang was too lazy to beat around the bush with this guy. Everyone knew what was going on, so why waste time here? Li Xiang had only one purpose in coming here today, and that was to threaten the other party with force and then make him suffer the consequences.
"That's sheer nonsense. You Tang people insulted our Turkic women. Do you think you can insult us Turkic women at will?"
When Li Xiang said this, the Western Turkic Khan's mind was working very fast. He didn't know what went wrong and gave Li Xiang a handle. Li Xiang said this without any concrete evidence, but there was some evidence.
"Since you've said so much, I won't talk to you about anything else. Let's end it here. As for what happens next, let's fight with swords and rob with armies."
Li Xiang is now considered an old bird. When the other party keeps arguing with you about this matter, you raise it to the level of the two countries, which can show the other party's timidity. The other party actually does not want to expand, but we don't want to talk nonsense with you on this matter.
After hearing what Li Xiang said, the Khan of Western Turkic didn't know how to respond. It was clearly a matter of Prince Li You of Qi defiling the princess, but now it has escalated to a war between the two countries. Who said that a war was going to start?
"Your Highness, please calm down. This is not what our Khan meant. We have always been friendly with the Tang Dynasty and have always wanted to resume trade with them. This is definitely not a dispute like this. If a dispute really arises, it will not benefit either of our two countries..."
Abarasha's role is to act as a lubricant. He cannot make the final decision here, but if the two sides quarrel, he must put out the anger. When there is no way to move forward, he has to push the negotiations between the two sides forward and ultimately resolve everything in a peaceful way.
"Your Excellency is wrong to say this. As far as I know, we don't need the things in your country. Even if we do, we can obtain them now that we have occupied the former Turkic and Xueyantuo countries. But you must have the things in our country. No one else can supply you with salt and tea except us."
Li Xiang did not give these people any face. After Li Xiang finished speaking, Abalasha and the Western Turkic Khan looked a little embarrassed. They knew that what Li Xiang said was true. In fact, there was another thing that they did not have, that is iron.
Although the nomadic peoples were good at fighting, they lacked various daily necessities and could only obtain them through trade. If the country was closed, the nomadic peoples would have to move south.
But that's when you are strong. But what if you are not strong enough, and you still want to go to other people's homes to steal things, you will be killed by them. That's a disaster.
"Are you sure you can defeat me, Tujue? Do you really think I, Tujue, will kneel down and beg for mercy?"
After all, the Western Turkic Khan has royal blood, and he would never allow Li Xiang to insult him here.
"You might not be able to do that now, because you still have your army and your territory. But you should learn from your predecessors. The Turkic Khan was no less brave, and the Xueyantuo Khan also had a lot of territory. But what can they do now? One lives an honest life in Chang'an City, while the other is like a stray dog in your country..."
The Western Turkic Khan realized that no matter what he said, he would be slapped in the face by Li Xiang in the end, and the slap would be very painful.
Abalasha didn't know how to make up for it at this time. What Li Xiang said was true. The heroes on the grassland were originally very powerful, but now they have all been conquered by the Tang Dynasty, especially the Xueyantuo Khan. Now there are only a few people around him. It is hard to imagine that he was the Khan of a country.
"That's because they were adjacent to your Tang Dynasty, so your Tang army was able to attack them. Now our two countries are so far apart, your army can't even get through. Even if it could, don't you have enough logistical supply lines?"
The Western Turkic Khan said without giving up that he must find some advantages of his own. If he did not have any advantages in the negotiation, then even if a war broke out in the future, he would be the loser. We had no confidence at the beginning.
"Don't you know much about the situation outside? Do all our supplies need to be shipped from the Tang Dynasty? Can't Gaochang provide us with supplies? Will all the countries in the Western Regions stand behind you? Even if I say they can stand by you, can you believe it?"
Li Xiang's words were like heavy hammers, hammering down on the heart of the Western Turkic Khan. Li Xiang was right. There was no need to transport supplies from Chang'an. They had allies in the Western Regions and could obtain various supplies there. They only needed to transport a small amount of things from Chang'an...