Li Hong seemed to have expected that they would not agree. He was not surprised at all when he saw their angry expressions.

He shook his head and sighed, "How can I believe in your sincerity? I believe that you will be friendly with the Tang Dynasty for generations, and will no longer harm our people or invade our territory?"

"We promise, with great..." said Mangsong Mangzan.

Li Hong interrupted him and said hastily, "Shut up. With your character, how much can a guarantee be worth? Do you have that kind of credit? Hey, hey, hey, aunt, where are you going? We haven't finished talking yet, right?"

"I'm going to die! Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty is unwilling to give me a chance to live, I'd rather die than live, lest I disgrace the eyes of your noble Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty." Wen Cheng really couldn't stand Li Hong's humiliation of the Tubo royal family, but she had no other choice at the moment.

Li Hong glanced at Mangsong Mangzan and said hastily, "Damn it, it's all your fault. You still have the nerve to mention your credit! Hey, auntie, wait a minute."

Someone left Mangsong Mangzan and others behind and rushed towards Princess Wencheng.

It's not that he is so filial. A princess of the royal family would not make a prince like him be so tolerant.

What he was afraid of was that Princess Wencheng would get angry and stand on the top of the Red Palace and raise her arms, and use her prestige to arouse the anti-Tang people's fervor. At that time, it is very likely that the Tang Dynasty would be stuck in the quagmire like the US military in the previous life.

...

...

Moreover, whether it is the Middle East that was regarded as a battlefield by the US military in the previous life, or the Tibet that he has conquered in this life, they are all people with faith. Armed invasion is not a bad option, but using force to forcibly incorporate them into the territory of the Tang Dynasty is the worst option.

After Li Hong and Princess Wencheng disappeared, the mature and prudent Pei Xingjian immediately ordered the Tang army to blockade and surround the entire Potala Palace.

As for Mangsong Mangtsen, Garzangzhuo, Chidusongjie, and other Tibetan ministers, they were all politely invited into the palace and placed under strict supervision.

The power of the Tubo Prime Minister is second only to one person in Tubo. There are still more than 100,000 Tubo soldiers in the city, which forces Pei Xingjian to treat them with caution and vigilance.

Quan Yi was responsible for guarding the foot of the Potala Palace, while Wufawutian was assigned by Li Hong to guard the surrendered Tubo soldiers.

As for Pei Xingjian, he was in the Potala Palace on the mountain, guarding the Tibetan officials to prevent them from contacting other surrendered generals.

Li Hong didn't know at first how complicated the things between tribes were, but when he entered Tubo and learned about it, his first reaction was whether he should abandon this mess and run away.

The various Tibetan tribes did not live in harmony with each other as he had imagined, leaving no room for others to take advantage of them.

Instead, in the peaceful environment of Tubo, the tribes were still competing for the fertile pastures.

The Tubo royal family would only step in to mediate when the two tribes were at loggerheads, or when the casualties on either side were too great, or when other tribes joined the fight.

However, if the tribal leaders who were so bloodthirsty and had lost their minds in the fight for pasture ignored the mediation of the Tubo royal family.

The Tubo royal family would then send generals to suppress the rebellion until they were willing to duel to decide who would own the grassland.

Here, strict laws are only used for crimes and rebellions, etc. There is no perfect system or even no system at all to deal with the plundering of natural resources with beautiful water and lush grass.

Any tribal dispute here is still resolved using the most primitive method, force, and whoever wins gets the fertile pasture.

Each tribal leader would go into battle personally, and could only lead the same number of people, and then choose an open area to fight.

Li Hong watched Mangsong Mangtsen and Garzangzhuo handling Tibetan government affairs. The complicated affairs made him feel dizzy.

And in the distant Daming Palace in Chang'an City, his father Long was also feeling dizzy from a headache!

On the table were Princess Wencheng's handwritten letter of questioning, Princess Honghua's letter of request, and the triumphant memorial delivered by the Red Feather envoy.

"He is happy now, but who will clean up this mess? Isn't it me who is asked to help him solve it? Nonsense! It's absolutely nonsense!" Li Zhi picked up Princess Wencheng's letter, but put it down weakly as soon as he picked it up.

He has read this letter no less than a hundred times, and also read the letter from Honghua no less than a hundred times.

Wencheng hoped that he would issue an order to have Li Hong evacuate the Tubo royal city immediately, and that he would be willing to pay tribute and be Li Hong's vassal forever.

However, Honghua had sharper ears than a thief. As soon as Dafeichuan and other places were recovered, Honghua began to ask him to restore Nuohebo and asked him to immediately restore Nuohebo's status as King and allow them to return to their hometown.

Now in the court, when all the ministers heard that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Li Hong had conquered the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, they were all delighted and sang praises.

Some even believe that this feat was something that even the late emperor had never achieved, and that Your Majesty should reward the Crown Prince handsomely.

But when he asked what to do with Tibet even though it was now occupied by Li Hong, all the ministers fell silent again.

Li Zhi was pressed into a corner, and someone came out and said that it would be better to turn Tubo into the Tubo Protectorate and appoint His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to serve concurrently.

To be in charge of both the Anxi and Tubo Protectorates, perhaps only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the most suitable person.

Naturally, there were people who were willing to expand the territory for the Tang Dynasty, while there were people who were willing to see the Tang Dynasty educate foreign nations with virtue, and believed that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should be ordered to withdraw from Tibet and then treat it with friendship for generations.

Considering that Tubo came to the Tang Dynasty to propose marriage a few years ago, Your Majesty should now follow the example of the late emperor and select a princess from the royal family to marry Tubo, so as to demonstrate the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty.

But in the end, these ministers hoped that His Majesty could remain anonymous and not mention in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty who was the one who advocated agreeing to Tubo's marriage proposal.

Li Zhi kept shaking his head as he listened. After discussing for a long time, they still couldn't come to a conclusion.

Moreover, he also noticed that some silent ministers, who usually spoke out and took action on government affairs, were now like dumb when faced with the Tubo issue.

It goes without saying that these people must be holding suggestions that are far from the Crown Prince's. They are afraid that the vindictive Crown Prince will come after them to settle accounts after his triumphant return to Chang'an.

As expected, within a few days, there were memorials from several ministers on his desk, all of which advocated peace and the need to marry off princesses from the royal family to reconcile with Tubo.

Seeing Li Zhi in a state of panic and worry, yet with a look of complacency and pride on his face, how could Wu Mei not know?

His Majesty is annoyed by the fact that the court officials have different opinions on Tubo and there is no decree that satisfies him.

The proud one was naturally his son, who single-handedly led only 40,000 to 50,000 people to kill his way in and out of Tubo. Not only did he not get hurt, but he also annihilated nearly 300,000 Tubo people.

They also attacked Huanglong directly and captured the Tubo royal capital, Lhasa, in one fell swoop.

Wu Mei placed the tea on the table for Li Zhi and said calmly, "Perhaps you can ask Li Yifu, Xu Jingzong and others for their opinions. They have spent a long time with Li Hong, so perhaps they can figure out some of Li Hong's intentions?"

"Hmph! Should I make the decision, or should Li Hong make the decision? Do I have to guess what Li Hong is thinking? Can't I make the decision on this matter? So what if it's Li Hong's credit?" Li Zhi slammed the table heavily and snorted coldly.

Officials in the court acted like this, and so did the queen in the harem! Is it possible that I cannot make the decision on this matter?

Wu Mei glanced at Li Zhi with amusement. Perhaps even he himself did not realize that the reason he was angry was that the court could not give him a decision.

It was also because he himself was unconsciously wondering what Li Hong wanted to do next in Tubo?

Everyone knows that Li Hong is now thousands of miles away. If the decree he issued does not satisfy that little bastard, who knows what he can do?

This is no different from other things. If Li Hong's actions are contrary to the will of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, it will not only make the Tang royal family lose face, but also weaken the majesty of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Seeing Li Zhi groaning and looking gloomy, Wu Mei stood up and walked behind him, gently kneading his shoulders and said, "In this case, why not let Li Hong make the decision himself? As for Wencheng, how about refusing him on the grounds that the court cannot decide on Li Hong's defeat of Tubo based on one side's opinion?"

"Then what should we do with Honghua? Is it really necessary to give the territory that Li Hong fought so hard for to gain to Nuhebo? If so, Li Hong will go crazy." Li Zhi's anger subsided a little, but he still spoke in a bad mood.

"As for this matter, our Tang Dynasty just conquered Dayechuan not long ago, and everything is ready. However, Tubo has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops on the border, and we are deeply afraid that they will counterattack. This matter should not be discussed now. We can discuss it after the overall situation is settled." Wu Mei said lightly.

In recent years, Li Zhi's health has indeed been worse than before. Now that Li Hong is not around, most of the time, Li Zhi takes the affairs of the court to the harem to discuss with himself.

Rather than saying it was a discussion, it would be more accurate to say that Li Zhi asked Wu Mei to help him make a decision.

Li Zhi's weak body made it impossible for him to handle the government affairs in an overloaded manner. Sometimes, he even fell asleep unconsciously while sitting behind the desk and handling government affairs.

Li Zhi's head slowly tilted back and gently rested on Wu Mei's towering chest. He closed his eyes and let Wu Mei help him relieve the pain in his forehead.

After a long while, he said, "As for the Honghua matter, we can follow your suggestion and issue an order tomorrow. As for the Tubo matter, we need to wait a little longer. Wencheng's letter has arrived, so is it possible that Li Hong's letter has not arrived yet? Let's wait and see if there will be any memorials from Li Hong in the next few days."

"If he wanted to submit a memorial, he would have done it long ago. Why would he wait until now? Yesterday, Bai Chun came to the palace to discuss business matters in Taiyi City with me. He also said that because Xu Jingzong was seriously ill, he received the Prince's Order from Li Hong yesterday." Wu Mei held Li Zhi's head, staring at the tree at the door with lifeless eyes, and said lazily.