The oil lamp in the secret prison is like a bean.

As the soldering iron burned green smoke on the skin, the questioning sounded again.

“Where is Trisong Detsen?”

The person who was tied to the torture rack was a short-haired monk. He raised his head and saw that it was Yeshi Wangpo. He pursed his lips tightly and said nothing, and his eyes were as stubborn as rocks.

His interrogator had stayed up for several nights. He yawned and said to himself: "The monk refused to speak. He just assumed that Trisong Detsen was dead."

"Let's try again tomorrow."

The sound faded away and the secret prison gradually became quiet. Yixi Wangbo looked around, looking for a way to die.

Until late at night, there was a sudden sound outside, and a slender figure wearing a black cloak walked in. In front of him, it was Na Lanzhen.

"Princess? How did you get here?"

Na Lanzhen looked tired and said, "I thought you and Zamp were both killed, but I found out that Ma Xiang's confidants have been secretly arresting people here. Tell me, is Zamp still alive? Where is he?"

"

"Zamp, he should still be alive."

"What happened?"

Yixi Wangbo said: "The princess and Basak Nang went to the Tang Dynasty as an envoy and brought back Zen Master Hui Zheng and his disciples. This time the assassination of Ma Xiang failed. Zen Master Hui Zheng sensed that Zan Pu was in danger and took him with him in advance.

Zamp escaped. To protect Zamp, I stayed behind and set myself on fire. Unexpectedly, I was captured by Ma Xiang's men."

After Nalanzhen heard this, she first murmured: "Was it Huizheng who rescued Zanpu?"

But she still felt vaguely that something was wrong.

Since the incident, she has been trying hard to find Zanpu, but after Huizheng rescued Zanpu, not only did he not contact her, but she seemed to be avoiding him.

After getting this clue, Nalanzhen sent Basai Nang to investigate the Zen monks. Not long after, Basai Nang asked someone to report to her, and found out that a group of Zen monks had gone to the territory of the Supi tribe one after another, and these were the envoys of the Tang Dynasty.

direction of return.

"Zampu followed the envoy and fled to Tangting?" Nalanzhen wondered in her heart.

She couldn't help but think of Xue Bai again.

She had hated him deeply in the past, but she had to admit that his tenacity and strength gave her a lot of strength and allowed her to imitate him. Over the years, she had worked hard to become like him.

Gradually, in her heart, Xue Bai became a steady and reliable ally, at least for the time being, so she eagerly wanted to form an alliance with him.

Nalanzhen chased in the direction of the envoys from the Tang Dynasty without stopping. She traveled through wind and rain, eating wind and drinking dew every day, and finally found out their movements.

At the edge of Dangra Lake, a herdsman told her that an envoy from the Tang Dynasty passed by here a few days ago, and he brought a group of monks with him.

Nalanzhen was overjoyed and galloped until her horse was exhausted, so she had to stop and stay in a tantric Zen monastery. When she stayed, she always felt that the old monk looked at her in the wrong way, so she kept a close eye on her during the night, waiting to hear what she wanted.

He stood up suddenly as he heard footsteps outside the door.

"Princess, the old monk wants to take you to see Basai Nang." The old monk outside the door said, "He was seriously injured, and he wants to tell you something."

Nalanzhen was also brave and followed the old monk without hesitation.

When he arrived at a monk's house, he opened the door and saw Basak Nang lying there with the arrows still on his body. He had several wounds all over his body. He was covered with incense ash and was mushy with the gushing blood.

His face was sallow and he was dying.

"Basai Nang, who hurt you like this?"

"After all, the princess...it was Tang Ting...who kidnapped Zampu..."

Na Lanzhen stepped forward and said, "What did you say?"

"It was the envoy from the Tang court who told Ma Xiang the plan... and betrayed us..."

"How could it be? He has formed an alliance with us." Na Lanzhen shook her head and said, "They are not treacherous people."

In her impression, Xue Bai and Yan Zhenqing were both upright and upright people who respected benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust.

Bassinang murmured: "I didn't believe it at first. Tang Ting regarded itself as a big country and was so proud...how could it betray an alliance...but they...are an enemy country!"

There was a "pop" sound, and blood poured out of his mouth.

He originally relied on his will to hold on and wanted to tell Nalanzhen the news, but now his anger was gone and he could no longer hold on and died on the spot.

Na Lanzhen sat slumped on the ground and was in a daze for a long time.

Since Ma Xiang became the regent, he has been launching military campaigns against the borders of the Tang Dynasty, and has successively occupied Hexi and Longyou areas. He also invaded the Tang Dynasty during the autumn harvest every year, and even supported Dazalu Gong's troops to march into Chang'an.

Therefore, she thought that she and Xue Bai had a common enemy, and as long as Ma Xiang and Dazalu Gong were eliminated, Tubo and Tang Dynasty could live in peace.

She was too naive, and Xue Bai simply ignored her so-called sincerity and credibility.

There are only eternal interests between countries.

It would be beneficial to the Tang Dynasty to weaken Tubo, so Xue Bai would do it without hesitation and do his best.

Now, letting Ma Xiang use brutal means to suppress the opponents and forcefully seize the throne will most weaken Tubo. That's what Xue Bai did. When Ma Xiang really takes control of the situation, Xue Bai will send Trisong Detsen back and start civil strife again.

.

As for personal friendships and positions, they are nothing compared to these.

"Damn."

"Damn."

Some scenes that had been forgotten reappeared in Nalanzhen's mind, the Tubo soldiers who died in Nanzhao, and the bits and pieces of her being captured and humiliated.

She cursed twice, clutching the knife tightly, with murderous intent in her eyes. She had not lost yet, she wanted to rescue Trisong Detsen and come back to dominate Tubo.

By then, an extremely powerful Tubo state will ravage the Tang court wantonly.

~~

Chang'an.

After the third year of Shangyuan Dynasty, Xue Bai changed the title of the reign to "Zhengxing", which means "bringing order to order and reviving the Tang Dynasty".

It was the first year of Zhengxing, the year of Jihai, and the year of the Pig. There were no major events in the world. Last year, the two saints died and Tubo invaded the country. After the temporary turmoil, the state affairs gradually calmed down.

In the first year when Xue Bai officially came to power, the goal he set for himself was to "make no mistakes" because he often asked himself, what is the difference between him and Li Heng and Li Chu when he ascended the throne and proclaimed emperor? In other words, what can he bring to the Tang Dynasty?

What kind of changes? I think one is the crafts and laws of later generations that he brought in his mind, which will take a long time to establish the foundation; the other is to correct the problems of the Tang Dynasty itself. There are two biggest problems, the separation of vassal towns and the tax system.

reform.

If he can accomplish these things during his reign, Xue Bai believes that the Tang Dynasty will become stronger and more prosperous in his own hands. However, the resolution and formation of the vassal towns and the tax system all depend on class conflicts. The foundation of the Tang Dynasty must be touched at any time, so he cannot be too hasty.

He is willing to spend several years first to stabilize people's livelihood, accumulate national strength, cultivate useful talents, and at the same time increase his personal authority, so that he can calm down and make reforms later.

Therefore, in the first year of Zhengxing, Xue Bai was most concerned about creating a stable and peaceful external environment. Unlike Li Longji, who conscripted troops to conquer Qinghai, he temporarily used diplomatic means to force Tibet to be unable to start another war after a war.

, and then waited for Feng Changqing to send news from the four towns of Anxi.

After solving the problem in the northwest, Xue Bai wanted to tour all over the world to clean up the officials, resolve conflicts from the local level, reform the tax system, and personally supervise to prevent good policies from being implemented but turning into bad things that harm the people.

politics.

He also asked Jiangnan Dongdao to design a shipping office and build sea-going ships, hoping that in the future the ships of the Tang Dynasty would sail on the sea, bring back more productive grains, and promote the majesty of the great country.

These are all things for later, and he needs to wait patiently on calm days.

In addition, in the first year of Zhengxing, Qing Lan and Li Tengkong gave birth to a son and a daughter, adding a bit of joy to the originally cold palace city.

The courtiers naturally congratulated Xue Bai, but they also noticed that Xue Bai, who had always been famous for his romantic style, had not actually canonized many concubines.

In the end, it was Du Wulang who got Du Youlin's instruction and gave a few reminders when he asked to see Xue Bai.

"Why don't you ennoble some more concubines and spread the branches, so that we ministers of Yuan Cong can feel more at ease?" Du Wulang looked around and saw that there was no one in the palace, so he picked up the apple on the imperial desk and started to chew it.

Xue Bai approved the memorial and without raising his head, said: "Okay, I will first consecrate the concubine and the concubine."

"Ahem." Du Wulang choked on the apple while chewing it, and waved his hand: "No, no, if the sisters agree, I will break their legs. It doesn't matter if they are in the wrong generation in other families, in our case

The most important thing about a family is its reputation.”

Xue Bai said: "How about I canonize the Seventeenth Mother?"

"No, no, no," Du Wulang waved his hand, "She is from the same clan as you."

"Where's Yao Niang?"

"Are you kidding me?" Du Wulang responded hurriedly, "Also, don't talk anymore about Yao Niang's sisters. If it doesn't work, it won't work. It's one thing for others to talk behind your back, but it's another thing if you put it on the table.

It’s the same thing.”

Xue Bai pondered and said: "To tell you the truth, I have met Ji Lanzi frequently recently, and I don't want to let her down."

"Are you serious?" Du Wulang slapped his head and said, "I pretend I don't know about your private exchanges, but this is also a person with the same surname, so it is inappropriate to be canonized openly."

"This is not allowed, and that is not allowed. Why are you talking so much?"

"And Nian Nu, Xie Aman, think about it again, what other beauties do you have that you can apologize to?"

Xue Bai became distracted by this.

He didn't really think about who he was sorry for, he just thought that there was actually a way to give a name to the people around him.
To be continued...