If they were to personally attempt to decipher the crystal ball and ultimately fail, it would be a disgrace to the Tang Dynasty!

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi immediately stepped forward, took the crystal ball, and then picked up the gold thread from the plate to try and thread it through the crystal ball. However, no matter how hard he tried, the gold thread could not pass through the crystal ball.

Li Zhi tried several more times, but had no choice but to give up.

"Father, I cannot do it..."

Li Shimin waved his hand dismissively upon hearing this.

"fine!"

"Such trivial skills are nothing to be ashamed of, even if you can't do them!"

"Our Great Tang has always faced enemies with an upright and honorable army; we have never resorted to such underhanded tricks!"

Li Shimin reversed the situation with a single sentence, directly classifying the crystal ball as a trivial skill.

Yuan Zuosheng was not annoyed by this, but just smiled and said.

"His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty is right. Although this ball is a trivial skill, it is the best test of wisdom."

"The reverence our nation holds for the Great Tang is like a surging river, flowing endlessly. We only hoped that the Great Tang could enlighten our small nation, but unexpectedly, the Great Tang is so perfunctory, unable to even pass through a single thread of gold. This is truly disappointing..."

Li Shimin valued his reputation highly, and upon hearing Yuan Zuosheng's words, he immediately stood up in anger.

"How dare you underestimate the Tang Dynasty!"

"Your humble servant dares not!"

"I only hope that His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang can enlighten me!"

"Of course, if the Tang Dynasty can make an exact replica of the crystal ball, I would accept it, hahaha!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin fell silent. When he first saw the crystal ball, he couldn't help but wonder how the holes inside were made.

He racked his brains but couldn't come up with a solution, let alone have someone copy it.

"This item will remain with me for now. I will give you my answer in three days!"

"Then I will await good news!"

After the Goguryeo envoy left the hall, Li Shimin's expression immediately changed.

"Gentlemen, this matter concerns the reputation of the Great Tang Dynasty. Even if you rack your brains, you must come up with a solution for me. Do not let the mere Goguryeo ridicule us!"

Upon hearing this, everyone began to brainstorm and search for a way to break the crystal ball.

"Your Majesty, why don't you try catching an ant?"

"Tie a silk thread to the ant, and once the ant passes through the crystal ball, use the silk thread to tie a gold thread to drag it across..."

Li Shimin's eyes lit up when he heard about this idea, and he immediately ordered someone to catch an ant outside the palace.

However, it was freezing cold, and the ants were all hiding underground. It took the Imperial Guards quite a while to catch a few dozen ants in the Imperial Garden.

Li Shimin personally tied a silk thread to an ant and then pushed the ant into the hole. The ant crawled around inside the crystal ball, but soon got stuck in an extremely narrow space and couldn't move forward or backward.

Now look what happened! The thread couldn't get through, and the ants have blocked the path...

"Look at the terrible idea you came up with!"

"Your Majesty, I had no idea it was so narrow inside that even an ant couldn't crawl through!"

Li Shimin led everyone in a flurry of activity for a while, but when they realized they couldn't thread the gold thread through it, he got so angry that he smashed the crystal ball on the ground.

However, the crystal ball bounced twice on the ground and remained completely intact!

"This piece of junk is actually pretty sturdy!"

Changsun Wuji smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"Goguryeo has probably been plotting to make things difficult for us for years. It wouldn't make sense if they didn't choose a sturdy one, hehehe!"

Although the gold thread could never pass through the crystal ball, neither the emperor nor his ministers took it seriously.

After all, the Tang Dynasty's current status was earned through battle, not through clever tricks or deception!

"Gentlemen, don't bother. I doubt even Goguryeo can handle it. They're just deliberately making things difficult for us!"

"Your Majesty is right. Even ants cannot pass through this. I find it hard to believe that anyone could do it!"

Li Shimin nodded upon hearing this, then casually placed the crystal ball in the center and led Li Jing, Changsun Wuji, Yuchi Jingde, and others in a discussion.

Do you all think Zhang Liang and Li Shiji are capable of defeating Goguryeo?

"Your Majesty, I find it very difficult..."

"Goguryeo was a large country with a population of several million, unlike small countries like Silla and Baekje."

"To destroy such a great power, the entire nation's army would be indispensable."

"Zhang Liang and Li Shiji's attack can only be considered a harassment."

"Conquering one or two cities is no problem, but destroying Goguryeo is extremely difficult!"

The person who said this was none other than Li Jing, who longed to return home to retire.

In fact, Li Jing had always opposed sending troops to attack Goguryeo. Firstly, it was too far away, and conquering it would be pointless. Secondly, Goguryeo had a very strong military, and conquering it would inevitably shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin pondered this carefully for a moment, then nodded.

"The Duke of Wei is right. I was too impatient and always wanted to achieve everything in one battle!"

"But Goguryeo is indeed too arrogant. A mere envoy dares to mock the Tang Dynasty. Who knows what they say about us in their own country!"

Li Jing smiled dismissively upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, Goguryeo can't defeat us, so you won't even let us have a good chat? Hahaha!"

As soon as Li Jing said this, the joyful atmosphere in the hall returned.

This is the spirit of the Zhenguan era!

Confident but not arrogant, assertive but not flamboyant!

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Shimin immediately ordered people to prepare wine and dishes to properly entertain his old brothers.

An hour later, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and left.

Just as Li Shimin was about to leave, Zhang Anan called out to him, holding a crystal ball.

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