ATPnovel Chapter 2330 Return to Yanqi
Chapter 2330 Return to Yanqi
"You are so majestic and powerful, you horse-latch man. Pah!!"
On the official road, a cavalry team was galloping, and the yellow sand was flying all over the sky, making it impossible to open one's eyes.
"Rengui, how long will it take to get to Yanqi?"
In the center of the team, Li Shen asked while riding on the little white dragon.
"Your Highness, we should be almost there, probably about twenty to thirty miles away." Xue Rengui looked around and reported.
"Then speed up. I must not eat dirt again. How can there be such a strong wind?"
Li Shen ordered everyone to speed up. There wasn't such a strong wind and sand when they went there, so why did they encounter wind and sand when they came back?
Li Shen was covered in sand.
Half an hour later, Li Shen finally saw Yuanqu City. It was a basin that blocked the wind and sand.
"Greetings, His Royal Highness Prince Ji." Han Wei learned that Prince Ji had returned and brought people out to greet him.
"Well, no need to be so polite. Is Yuanqu City peaceful?" Li Shen nodded.
"Your Highness, everything is stable. Your Highness Prince Ji has had a hard journey. You should go into the city and rest for a while."
Han Wei replied.
Li Shen took the lead in entering Yuanqu City, and this time he planned to live in his own villa.
"General Han, I will prepare a banquet later, and you should invite the nobles from Xiannazhun and Yanqi.
I will go take a shower and change clothes first."
Originally, Han Wei wanted to say that he had prepared wine and food to welcome Prince Ji, but he didn't expect Prince Ji to speak first.
I could only nod and agree:
"Yes, I will inform them right away."
Then Li Shen ordered people to prepare wine and food, while he went to take a bath, change clothes, and wash off the sand and dirt on his body.
"Your Highness, General Han and the nobles of Yanqi have arrived."
Half an hour later, Li Shen was ready and Shitou came in to report.
"Let's go. Is the banquet ready?" Li Shen then stood up.
"Your Highness, everything is ready." Shitou agreed.
He invited everyone to the dining hall, and after both sides exchanged greetings, Li Shen asked everyone to sit down.
Li Shen picked up the wine glass and said:
"Everyone, I have just returned from Kucha. The crisis in Kucha has been resolved. I have captured King Bushipi and General Jieliedian.
He will be escorted back to Chang'an soon and punished personally by His Majesty the Heavenly Khan."
"Your Highness Prince Ji is mighty!" Han Wei stood up and shouted cooperatively.
Others had no choice but to follow suit.
"Haha, I dare not take credit for this. This is all thanks to the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. They are brave and skilled in battle, well-armed, and fearless of death.
Only then can you be invincible and unstoppable.
This first cup is for the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty."
Li Shen chuckled and said something that hurt everyone present.
If everyone was from the Tang Dynasty, everyone might be extremely proud of Li Shen's words, but they were the defeated party.
Prince Ji's move was to humiliate them and slap them in the face.
However, no one dared to say anything, and everyone had to drink with King Ji with a smile on their faces.
Looking at everyone's unnatural expressions, Li Shen was very happy. This was exactly the effect he wanted.
"This second cup is offered to all present here. I hope that one day the world will be united and you will all become respected Tang nobles.
I know that you may still have hope for the Kingdom of Yanqi, but you have also seen the current situation.
You are sandwiched between the Tang Dynasty, the Western Turks, and Tubo. It is impossible for you to have your cake and eat it too.
In the final analysis, you are too weak. Your population is not even as large as that of a county in the Tang Dynasty.
No, it should be said that your population is not as large as the population under my Ji Wang Mansion.
There are tens of thousands of people living under my Jiwang Mansion who depend on me for their livelihood.
And you, Yanqi, have only tens of thousands of people. How long do you think you can hold on?
If the Tang Dynasty had not deployed heavy troops in the Parthian Protectorate in recent years, your Yanqi would have been annexed by the other two families long ago.
So this cup of wine is offered to you by the king. Please think carefully about it, not only for yourselves, but also for your descendants."
After Li Shen finished speaking, he drank the whole thing in one gulp. The others followed suit dully, but everyone was absent-minded.
Prince Ji’s words were so straightforward that everyone present could understand them. Last time, Prince Ji had expressed himself in a very obscure way.
Although I don't want to admit it, I have to admit that what King Ji said makes sense.
Yanqi has always been trying to play both sides and survive in the cracks, but in return it has only been beaten.
At first, they were attached to the Han Dynasty. Later, due to the civil strife in the Central Plains, they attached themselves to the Western Turks. After the Sui Dynasty, they attached themselves to the Sui Dynasty again.
Then it was the Western Turks. This time, the Tang Dynasty attacked them because they rebelled.
If this rule is followed, would we also be attacked by the Western Turks?
Besides, there is a Tubo to their south who is eyeing them covetously.
Of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions back then, only a few are left now, and they don’t know how long they can hold on.
The atmosphere was a little quiet and everyone was thinking.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, do you mean to annex Yanqi?" Xian Nazhu stood up at this time.
"No, no, no, Your Majesty has misunderstood. Whether or not we annex Yanqi is actually irrelevant to our Tang Dynasty.
Our enemy is the Western Turks, not you who are living in the middle.
It is only because you are between our two countries that you have suffered this disaster.
I know your concerns, Your Majesty. You can rest assured that even if Yanqi is incorporated into the Parthian Protectorate, Your Majesty will still be the King of Yanqi and rule over Yanqi.
And with the help of our Tang Dynasty, Yanqi will be stronger than before, and the people will no longer be hungry.
Both the people of Yanqi and everyone present here will be richer than before."
Li Shen shook his head. Annexation did not sound good. Although he was an invader, as a Tang person he still had to maintain some dignity.
What Li Shen expressed was that they were not invaders, but came to help the people of Yanqi live a good life.
The nobles below were quite interested after hearing this, but Xian Nazhun was still in deep thought.
Yanqi has been a country for nearly a thousand years, and now it is about to disappear. It is definitely hard to accept it at first.
"Everyone, this is just my idea. The final decision will be made by His Majesty. I have no say.
Tomorrow the King will return to the Anxi Protectorate, so please don't be offended if I say a few more words to you today."
Seeing that the time was almost right, Li Shen picked up the wine glass again and admitted that he was just talking nonsense and it was not what the Tang Dynasty meant.
"Your Highness Prince Ji has come a long way. Why don't you stay a few more days and let us show our hospitality."
"Yes, Your Highness Prince Ji might as well stay a few more days."
"We still want to listen to His Royal Highness Prince Ji's teachings."
Upon hearing that Li Shen was leaving, the nobles below came out one after another to try to keep him, including some who were already moved by what Li Shen said.
"Hahahaha, everyone, there's no need to be like this. I have something important to attend to. If we are destined to meet again in Chang'an City someday, we may be able to do so.
I will definitely host a banquet to entertain you all.”
(I suddenly want to visit these places: Qiuci, Yanqi, and Xizhou.)